This shot from Cassini's narrow-angle camera shows a magnified image of the Earth, left, and its moon from the vantage point of Saturn. Porco launched a pair of contests inviting the public to submit music and photos that captured the moment of the cosmic encounter and urged people to step outside and wave at Cassini.Ī zoomed-in view from Cassini's narrow-angle camera shows humanity's home and its moon as small points of light in the blackness of space, an image intended to spark wonder "in a way we only rarely get to see, from the most distant robotic outpost we have ever established around another planet," Porco said on her web page. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.The Cassini images were the brainchild of Carolyn Porco, leader of the spacecraft imaging team at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. If you miss Jupiter at opposition this year, the next chance to see this astronomical event will be on Nov. This massive distance from the sun means that Jupiter’s close approach will only make a small difference to its size in the night sky. Jupiter is about 484 million miles (778 kilometers) from the sun, over five times the average distance between the Earth and the star. While the separation of over 350 million miles between Earth and the gas giant which may seem anything but ‘close,’ the greatest distance between our planet and Jupiter is around 600 million miles (960 million km). Jupiter moves in opposition roughly every 13 months at which time it is larger and brighter in the sky than usual.Īs Earth takes its 365-day orbit around the sun, it also makes its closest approach to Jupiter once every 12 months Jupiter’s orbit around our star takes 12 times as long to complete. Viewing with a large telescope should allow the planet’s ‘Great Red Spot-a storm so wide it could swallow two Earths side-by-side.ĭespite occurring on similar time scales, Jupiter’s opposition and its perigee very rarely coincide, making this a rare unmissable chance to view the massive planet. Good binoculars should be enough to see the banding across the center of the gas giant and even some of its larger moons. Wherever you happen to be, the best way to see Jupiter in opposition will be with binoculars or a telescope from a dark and dry area with high elevation. 27) morning before sinking below the western horizon. For skywatchers living in New York City, The Gothamist has collected some tips on how to view the planet from NYC(opens in new tab) specifically. The planet will appear from an altitude of 7 degrees above the eastern horizon moving to 49 degrees above the southern horizon (its highest point ) at 12:51 a.m. EDT (2030 GMT) thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project(opens in new tab).Īccording to (opens in new tab), Jupiter will be visible overnight from New York between 7:33 p.m. You can watch an online webcast of Jupiter at opposition on Tuesday (Sept. This closest approach will bring Jupiter to around 367 million miles from Earth, the gas giant’s closest to our planet since 1963.ĭuring opposition the planet will be in the Pisces constellation and be visible for most of the night, rising when the sun sets and disappearing when the sun rises. 26), allowing skywatchers to see the solar system’s largest planet in incredible detail during an event known as opposition.ĭuring the opposition Jupiter, Earth, and the sun are aligned in such a way that both planets are on the same side of the star with Earth sitting between these two massive bodies. As the gas giant reaches opposition while rising from the east at the same time the sun sets in the west, it will also be at its closest approach to Earth , known as perigee. Jupiter will be directly opposite the sun as seen from Earth on Monday (Sept.
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