By Jove! Jupiter is at opposition
TONIGHT, the sun, which is in the constellation Aries, sets here in Dunedin at 5.24pm. Almost simultaneously, on the opposite side of the sky, the planet Jupiter, in the constellation of Libra, will be just clearing the eastnortheast horizon.
An hour or so after sunset, Jupiter will be impossible to miss; it will be by far the brightest ‘‘star’’ in the sky. By midnight, when it is highest in the sky, the planet will be over 60 degrees above the northern horizon.
Because Jupiter rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, it is visible all night, which makes the next few weeks absolutely prime time for studying the planet known to Maori stargazers as Kopunui.
Because opposition also marks the time of the year when Jupiter is closest to Earth (this week it is a mere 658.2 million km from us), there really is no excuse not to fire up that old telescope you have tucked away somewhere and point it at the planet.
Along with Saturn, Jupiter is one of my favourite objects to observe telescopically. Although these days I am lucky to have access to a fairly decentsized telescope and some powerful digital cameras, you don’t actually need a particularly good telescope to enjoy splendid views of Jupiter.
I still remember spending many happy hours in my younger days studying the planet with nothing more than my eyes and a small telescope. Back in those days I couldn’t afford a camera, so spent my time trying to sketch the everchanging appearance of Jupiter’s fascinating cloud belts.
If you have an artistic bent, sketching Jupiter is certainly worth trying!
To show you the kind of views you might expect with a small telescope, last weekend I set up my telescope and photographed Jupiter. The Great Red Spot, a giant Jovian hurricane that’s been raging for several hundred years, was easily visible.
Watching the storm provided an easy way to observe the planet’s fast rotation.
Also visible was Io, one of the four major moons of Jupiter. It was fascinating to watch the motion of this distant volcanic moon.