For precise sun and Jupiter rising times at your location: Illustration via Chris Peat/ Heavens-Above. Opposition happens when Earth flies between an outer planet, like Saturn, and the sun. Still, Jupiter is always very bright! It’s always brighter than all the stars. And Jupiter was extra-bright in our sky on the day of opposition. If it’s nearly closest to the sun, and we go between it and the sun … voilà, it’s a close opposition for us! The juxtaposition of Jupiter’s opposition in late 2022, and perihelion in early 2023, brought the planet closer to Earth at this opposition than it has been for 70 years. That’s because opposition took place so near in time to Jupiter’s perihelion – on Janu– its closest point to the sun in its 12-year orbit. But in 2022, Jupiter’s opposition to the sun and closest approach to Earth fell on the same day. Why is Jupiter especially close in 2022? Jupiter isn’t always exactly closest to Earth on the day of its opposition. If you look closely, you’ll see the Galilean satellites appearing as pinpoints of light, arrayed in a line that bisects the giant planet. Through binoculars (anytime): Jupiter reveals a bright disk. Size at opposition (as best seen through a telescope): 50 arcseconds across. Opposition constellation: Pisces the Fishes.īrightness at opposition: Magnitude -2.9. It happened as Earth flew between the sun and Jupiter.Ĭlosest to Earth on September 26 at 3.953 astronomical units ( AU) or 367 million miles or 591 million km or 33 light minutes from Earth. Opposition on September 26 brought Jupiter opposite the sun in our sky. It’s been the very bright object ascending in the east throughout each evening. Jupiter in 2022: Maybe you’ve noticed Jupiter. At this 2022 opposition, the giant planet was closer than in 70 years! Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.Įarth flew between the sun and Jupiter – bringing Jupiter to its yearly opposition – on September 26. ![]() Between the Great Square and bright planet is a pretty, but faint group of 6 stars known as the Circlet in the constellation Pisces. A dark sky reveals the bright planet directly south of the Great Square of the constellation Pegasus. This planet’s opposition – when Earth flew between Jupiter and the sun – was on September 26. Last year, 2019 the date of opposition was June 10 and if you miss this year’s opposition, don’t worry! Thirteen months later Jupiter’s opposition will happen again - in 2021 it’ll be August 19.The bright “star” ascending in the east at nightfall is really a planet, the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. As a result, Jupiter comes a month later every year. This is how long Earth takes to travel once around the Sun relative to Jupiter. Jupiter comes to opposition roughly about every 13 months. It will allow you to take a closer look at Jupiter at its travel through the universe. To become a witness of this unique and beautiful phenomenon for your location, you can use our Star Walk 2 app. Jupiter reaches opposition on July 14, 2020, at about 08:00 GMT (4:00 EDT), and comes closest to Earth on July 15, 2020, at about 10:00 GMT (6:00 EDT). With the exception of the Sun and the Moon, only Venus – the brightest planet, now low in the east before sunrise – outshines Jupiter. There’s no way to mistake Saturn for Jupiter, though, because dazzling Jupiter outshines this 1st-magnitude star by some 14 times. At this 2020 opposition, Jupiter shines close to the planet Saturn, in front of the constellation Sagittarius. It shines more brightly than any star in the evening sky. Jupiter is always bright - it’s the largest planet in our solar system. During oppositions you will have the best chance to observe the outer planets of our Solar System. ![]() That is why in our sky it looks brighter and larger. This is the time when a planet is closer to Earth than usual. This phenomenon is called the “opposition” of a planet and happens when the planet and the Sun are on opposite sides of the celestial sphere, as observed from Earth.Ī planet at opposition rises just after sunset and can be seen in the sky all night long. The outer planet reaches this position halfway through a retrograde. ![]() In other words, celestial longitude or elongation of the planet differs by 180° from the longitude of the Sun. However, the outer planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) can appear in the opposite part of the sky, far away from the Sun. ![]() Their orbits pass inside the orbit of the Earth, so this is the reason why they are called the inner planets. According to classical astronomy theory, the inner planets are Venus and Mercury. In our Solar System planets are usually divided into two groups – the inner and outer planets.
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