JUPITER

BEST TIME TO SEE:

31 December, 07:00 UT ALTITUDE: 18º LOCATION: Libra DIRECTION: South-southeast

Jupiter is a morning object that gets better through the month. On 1 December it shines at mag. –1.7 and appears 31 arcseconds across through the eyepiece. By the 31st it will have brightened fractionally to mag. –1.8 and appear 34 arcseconds across. It never quite manages to make it to its highest point in darkness during the month. The 31st also sees Jupiter 3º east of Mars, and they form a triangle with mag. +2.8 Zubenelgenubi (Alpha (_) Librae). Jupiter makes a close 43-arcminute pass of this star on the morning of the 22nd. A thin waning crescent Moon is close to Jupiter on the mornings of the 14th and 15th.