Jupiter in 2024: Starting in June 2024, you might have noticed Jupiter in the morning twilight. By November, it was the very bright object ascending in the east a few hours after sunset, brighter than all the stars. But December is best for Jupiter in 2024!
Jupiter will reach opposition at 21 UTC (4 p.m. CDT) on December 7, 2024. That’s when Earth will fly between Jupiter and the sun, bringing th giant planet opposite the sun in our sky. As seen from around the globe, Jupiter will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. It’ll be shining at its highest in the sky, more or less where the sun was at your local noon, around midnight (the time each day when the sun will be below your feet). That’ll be true no matter where you are on Earth.
Jupiter will be closest to Earth one day before its opposition, at 10 UTC (5 a.m. CDT) on December 6, 2024. At that time, its distance will be 380 million miles/ 611 million km/ 34 light-minutes from Earth. Read more: Why is Jupiter closest before opposition?
Opposition constellation: Taurus the Bull.
Brightness at opposition: Magnitude -2.8. Jupiter will shine as the 4th-brightest object in the sky, after the sun, moon and planet Venus. It’ll be the brightest starlike object visible for most of the night (after Venus sets in the evening sky).
Size at opposition (as seen through a telescope): 48.2 arcseconds across.
Through binoculars (anytime): Jupiter reveals a bright disk. If you look closely, you’ll see several of its four Galilean moons appearing as pinpoints of light, arrayed in a line that bisects the giant planet.
December finder charts for Jupiter
Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.
How often does Jupiter reach opposition?
Jupiter takes 12 earthly years to orbit the sun once. So, the giant planet comes to opposition roughly every 13 months. By the same token, that’s how long Earth takes to travel once around the sun relative to Jupiter. Therefore, according to our earthly calendars, Jupiter’s opposition comes about a month later each year. Add to that the fact that there are 12 constellations of the zodiac. And there are 12 months in a year. So Jupiter appears in front of a new zodiacal constellation at each year’s opposition (last year, Aries; this year, Taurus).
2023 Jupiter opposition – November 3
2024 Jupiter opposition – December 7
2026 Jupiter opposition – January 10
2027 Jupiter opposition – February 10
Jupiter events in 2024
January 1, 2024: Jupiter was at perihelion or closest point to the sun for 2024.
May 18, 2024: Jupiter was at solar conjunction, or behind the sun as seen from Earth.
October 9, 2024: Jupiter began retrograde motion, that is, westward motion on the sky’s dome, a sign that opposition lay just ahead.
December 6, 2024: Jupiter at perigee, or closest to Earth for 2024.
December 7, 2024: Jupiter at opposition, or opposite the sun as seen from Earth.
February 4, 2025: Jupiter will end retrograde motion, a sign that the best time to observe Jupiter is ending. However, the planet will remain somewhere in the night sky through April 2025. Then it’ll emerge in the morning sky in July 2025.
View from above the solar system, December 2024
A failed star
Perhaps you know that Jupiter isn’t a rocky planet like Earth. In fact, it’s more like a failed star, not massive enough or hot enough inside to spark thermonuclear fusion reactions, but some 2 1/2 times more massive than all the other planets in our solar system combined. Jupiter is big! But, without that thermonuclear reaction it can’t shine as stars do.
Overall, you’d need some 80 Jupiters – rolled into a ball – to be hot enough inside to spark fusion. So, Jupiter isn’t a star. That is, it doesn’t shine with its own light, but instead by reflected sunlight.
Yet in December 2024 – as bright Jupiter rises in the east opposite the sunset – you can stand on Earth all night and peer toward bright Jupiter in our sky. And indeed, you can imagine that, if the giant planet did have enough mass to shine as stars do, then around Jupiter’s opposition, we’d have no night at all. Instead, Jupiter would shine as a tiny 2nd sun, all night long.
Read more: How to see Jupiter’s moons
For precise sun and Jupiter rising times at your location:
Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide)
Stellarium (online planetarium program)
In-the-sky information and finder chart for your location
EarthSky Community Photos
Got a picture of Jupiter? We’d love to see it. Submit them here.
Bottom line: Giant Jupiter is closest to Earth for 2024 on December 6. Then Earth will fly between the sun and Jupiter – bringing Jupiter to opposition – on December 7.
Read more: Jupiter: Closest to the Earth December 6, 2024
Read more: Jupiter’s moons: How to see and enjoy them
Read: Why is Jupiter closest to Earth 1 day before opposition?
The post Earth flies between Jupiter and the sun on December 7 first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/BOJir9n
Jupiter in 2024: Starting in June 2024, you might have noticed Jupiter in the morning twilight. By November, it was the very bright object ascending in the east a few hours after sunset, brighter than all the stars. But December is best for Jupiter in 2024!
Jupiter will reach opposition at 21 UTC (4 p.m. CDT) on December 7, 2024. That’s when Earth will fly between Jupiter and the sun, bringing th giant planet opposite the sun in our sky. As seen from around the globe, Jupiter will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. It’ll be shining at its highest in the sky, more or less where the sun was at your local noon, around midnight (the time each day when the sun will be below your feet). That’ll be true no matter where you are on Earth.
Jupiter will be closest to Earth one day before its opposition, at 10 UTC (5 a.m. CDT) on December 6, 2024. At that time, its distance will be 380 million miles/ 611 million km/ 34 light-minutes from Earth. Read more: Why is Jupiter closest before opposition?
Opposition constellation: Taurus the Bull.
Brightness at opposition: Magnitude -2.8. Jupiter will shine as the 4th-brightest object in the sky, after the sun, moon and planet Venus. It’ll be the brightest starlike object visible for most of the night (after Venus sets in the evening sky).
Size at opposition (as seen through a telescope): 48.2 arcseconds across.
Through binoculars (anytime): Jupiter reveals a bright disk. If you look closely, you’ll see several of its four Galilean moons appearing as pinpoints of light, arrayed in a line that bisects the giant planet.
December finder charts for Jupiter
Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.
How often does Jupiter reach opposition?
Jupiter takes 12 earthly years to orbit the sun once. So, the giant planet comes to opposition roughly every 13 months. By the same token, that’s how long Earth takes to travel once around the sun relative to Jupiter. Therefore, according to our earthly calendars, Jupiter’s opposition comes about a month later each year. Add to that the fact that there are 12 constellations of the zodiac. And there are 12 months in a year. So Jupiter appears in front of a new zodiacal constellation at each year’s opposition (last year, Aries; this year, Taurus).
2023 Jupiter opposition – November 3
2024 Jupiter opposition – December 7
2026 Jupiter opposition – January 10
2027 Jupiter opposition – February 10
Jupiter events in 2024
January 1, 2024: Jupiter was at perihelion or closest point to the sun for 2024.
May 18, 2024: Jupiter was at solar conjunction, or behind the sun as seen from Earth.
October 9, 2024: Jupiter began retrograde motion, that is, westward motion on the sky’s dome, a sign that opposition lay just ahead.
December 6, 2024: Jupiter at perigee, or closest to Earth for 2024.
December 7, 2024: Jupiter at opposition, or opposite the sun as seen from Earth.
February 4, 2025: Jupiter will end retrograde motion, a sign that the best time to observe Jupiter is ending. However, the planet will remain somewhere in the night sky through April 2025. Then it’ll emerge in the morning sky in July 2025.
View from above the solar system, December 2024
A failed star
Perhaps you know that Jupiter isn’t a rocky planet like Earth. In fact, it’s more like a failed star, not massive enough or hot enough inside to spark thermonuclear fusion reactions, but some 2 1/2 times more massive than all the other planets in our solar system combined. Jupiter is big! But, without that thermonuclear reaction it can’t shine as stars do.
Overall, you’d need some 80 Jupiters – rolled into a ball – to be hot enough inside to spark fusion. So, Jupiter isn’t a star. That is, it doesn’t shine with its own light, but instead by reflected sunlight.
Yet in December 2024 – as bright Jupiter rises in the east opposite the sunset – you can stand on Earth all night and peer toward bright Jupiter in our sky. And indeed, you can imagine that, if the giant planet did have enough mass to shine as stars do, then around Jupiter’s opposition, we’d have no night at all. Instead, Jupiter would shine as a tiny 2nd sun, all night long.
Read more: How to see Jupiter’s moons
For precise sun and Jupiter rising times at your location:
Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide)
Stellarium (online planetarium program)
In-the-sky information and finder chart for your location
EarthSky Community Photos
Got a picture of Jupiter? We’d love to see it. Submit them here.
Bottom line: Giant Jupiter is closest to Earth for 2024 on December 6. Then Earth will fly between the sun and Jupiter – bringing Jupiter to opposition – on December 7.
Read more: Jupiter: Closest to the Earth December 6, 2024
Read more: Jupiter’s moons: How to see and enjoy them
Read: Why is Jupiter closest to Earth 1 day before opposition?
The post Earth flies between Jupiter and the sun on December 7 first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/BOJir9n
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