Jupiter at its biggest, brightest for two weeks

Excerpt from pressofatlanticcity.com
By FRED SCHAAF

 

These next two

weeks Jupiter is at its brightest and biggest while Venus and Mars are

pulling together. And the International Space Station makes some great

passes.

6:09 p.m. By then, it has climbed

above the eastern horizon and the sky has darkened enough for us to see

Jupiter as a bright point of light directly to the left of it.

Jupiter at its best.

The moon rises an average of an hour later each night. But for the next

few weeks, Jupiter keeps rising around sunset, being highest at

midnight, and setting around sunrise. In 2015, this is also the time of

year when sun, Earth and Jupiter are approximately lined up, and Jupiter

is therefore closest to Earth. That means Jupiter appears its brightest

and, in telescopes, its biggest.

Notice that a fairly bright star

rises about an hour after Jupiter and pursues the planet across the sky.

That is Regulus, the star that marks the heart of noble Leo the Lion.

If skies are clear Thursday evening, the moon is rather near Regulus and

can help you identify the star.

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AscensionEarth2012/~3/Z_v7kSiUb7Q/jupiter-at-its-biggest-brightest-for.html

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Jupiter at its biggest, brightest for two weeks