CountryEngineer Majed Abu Zahira, head of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, said that Jupiter, “the giant of our solar system”, will reach its closest distance from Earth next Monday for the first time in 59 years.
He added that the phenomenon of opposition is common for Jupiter, as it occurs once every 13 months, which is the time that the Earth takes to revolve once around the sun in relation to Jupiter, while the planet and the Earth are at the closest distance between them approximately once a year, but Jupiter rarely coincides in The closest distance from our planet (perihelion) and it is also in the opposite.
If the sky was clear and in addition to the absence of the moon, Jupiter would be one of the brightest celestial bodies in the night sky today.
Jupiter will appear to the naked eye as a bright light mass, and by telescope the planet will appear as a disk with its four large moons “Ghanmede”, “Europe”, “Calisto” and “Iowa”.
Jupiter will be observed at midnight, towards the southern horizon, and at dawn, a depression will be seen towards the southwestern horizon.
It is worth noting that during the weeks following the encounter, Jupiter will reach its highest point in the sky four minutes early each night, and the planet will remain visible in the evening sky for the next few months.
Source: RT
