Astroblog: Jupiter at Opposition, Saturday August 15 2009

Friday, August 14, 2009

Jupiter at Opposition, Saturday August 15 2009

The evening sky looking east at 9:00 pm local time as seen from Australia.

Jupiter is at opposition on the night of Saturday, August 15. This is when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Don't worry, you don't have to dash out on the night of the 15th to see Jupiter wonderfully large, it will be very nice for a few weeks yet. I had a look for the first time through Don the 8" scope tonight (the weather has been very unkind recently), and it looked magnificent.

Still if you have a telescope and a free night tomorrow night, it would be a shame not to take a look. If you don't have a telescope but a friend does, inveigle them into giving you a look over the next few weeks (Saturday night is a good night for an impromptu Star Party). If you don't have an astronomer friend, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights?

If you just have binoculars, Jupiter's Moons are readily visible. Sunday August 16 has an interesting alignment of Moons.

Labels: Jupiter, Observational Astronomy