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Jupiter will be brighter and larger in the night sky as it swings past our planet at the shortest distance it has been in 59 years.
Australians will be able to see the largest planet up close in the coming weeks, with Tuesday being one of the best days to view the sprawling gas planet, provided the skies are clear.
Midnight is the best time to see it perched over the continent, but dusk and dawn also offer better-than-usual views.
At sunset, it’s best to look at the horizon facing away from the sun, while at sunrise can see it if you look west with your back to the rising sun.
The huge planet (pictured, with its famous ‘red spot’) is 591 million km from Earth, and since October 1963, stargazers haven’t had such a great chance of seeing it in the night sky.
Jupiter will still be 591 million km from Earth, but not since October 1963 have stargazers had such a great opportunity to see it in the night sky.
Professor Jonti Horner in Queensland Astrophysics said: ABC the gas planet rises at sunset on Earth and sets at sunrise – an event that occurs every 13 months.
This is when it appears the largest and brightest than any other time of the year.
“At that point, Earth is closest to Jupiter that year — so we’d describe that as the closest Earth to Jupiter,” said Professor Horner.
“Not all close-up approaches are equal, however, some are closer than others.”
Jupiter and the Earth are in an orbit around the Sun that is not always exactly circular (pictured, a rough illustration of Earth’s size compared to Jupiter)
Jupiter and Earth are on a path around the sun that is not always exactly circular.
Now Earth is closest to Jupiter, while the massive ball of gas is closest to the Sun.
Due to the overlap of the two events, which will not happen again until 2139, the gas planet will appear brighter and larger in the sky.
On Tuesday it will reach ‘opposition’ – that is when the planet will appear opposite the sun to that on Earth.
The planet’s closest approach to Earth almost never coincides with opposition, meaning the views this year will be “extraordinary,” according to NASA.
In the coming weeks, however, Jupiter will appear slightly larger and brighter.
Although it is one of the few planets that can be seen with the naked eye, NASA still recommends using some sort of telescopic instrument to view it.
Jupiter will be directly over Australia at midnight and should be visible through the night as long as there are no clouds or bright lights (pictured, a photo of the planet taken by the Juno spacecraft in 2019)
Professor Horner said the planet will be in the darkest part of the sky, where there are fewer bright stars.
“That makes it even clearer…there’s nothing like Jupiter,” said Professor Horner.
He added that it will be directly over Australia at midnight and should be visible all night, as long as there are no clouds or bright lights.
Jupiter should be visible on a fainter scale in the coming months.
It can be seen at sunset when people look east and at sunrise to the west.
Professor Horner said the planet will be in the darkest part of the sky, where there are fewer bright stars
Although it is one of the few planets that can be seen with the naked eye, NASA still recommends using some sort of telescopic instrument to view it.
A four-inch or larger telescope would allow observers to see Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and bands in greater detail.
The red spot is an ancient storm system large enough to swallow the Earth.
Jupiter has fascinated astronomers since its discovery in 1610 by Galileo Galilei with a small telescope he designed.
It has a radius of 69,911 km while the Earth’s equatorial radius is 6,378 km, so if the Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball.