Go outside any time after sunset tonight, and you will not fail to notice a bright “star” shining above the eastern horizon. It seems unusually bright and dominates that half of the sky. There is no other bright light to rival it in the night sky.
It’s Jupiter, the “king of planets,” close to its best of the year. For now, few bright stars trouble it in its vicinity. Technically in the constellation of Aries, the dim stars of Pisces and Cetus are nearby. It is, of course, so much closer to you than any of those stars far in the background.
Fifth Planet From The Sun
The fifth planet from the sun and by far the largest, Jupiter, is about four Earth-Sun distances away this week. That’s about as close as it ever gets. Jupiter reached opposition on November 2, the name for the moment the Earth gets between the sun and Jupiter. That happens because Earth orbits the sun 13 times faster than Jupiter.
Opposition is when Jupiter is at its biggest, brightest and best of the year. We are no longer quite at that point, but in a 99%-lit phase, the giant planet is still shining at a magnitude of -2.8. Jupiter is more noticeable in the month after its opposition because it’s higher in the sky during dusk.
Outer Solar System
If you have any pair of binoculars close to you, put them immediately back to Jupiter, and you will see at least three of its giant Galilean moons – Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io.
As you look at Jupiter tonight, shortly after sunset, you are looking in the opposite direction to the sun into the outer solar system. You’re looking through the solar system’s Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, where millions of asteroids orbit the sun.
Four Moons And Seven Sisters
As twilight fades to black and night’s window wide open, you’ll notice another beautiful object close to Jupiter—a fuzzy patch of light to the planet’s lower left, roughly due east. These bright blue stars, six or seven easily seen with the naked eye, are the Pleiades, also called the “Seven Sisters.”
They travel together through space and happen to be sliding through an interstellar cloud of dust. The dust lit up by the Pleiades stars gives the object its brightness. Look slightly away from it—perhaps back at Jupiter—and you’ll see it shining brightly in the corner of your eye.
Give it some time, and the night sky’s wonders will reveal themselves to you. All you need is a bright “star” to set you off.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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