Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky being only exceeded by the sun, the moon, and Venus. On rare occasions Mars may rival Jupiter in brightness.
Jupiter is bright enough to be visible in heavily light-polluted skies and near a bright moon.
While Jupiter is wonderful to see with the unaided eye, it is simply exquisite when viewed with a telescope. Even a modest low power telescope will show the four bright moons of Jupiter and multiple parallel cloud bands in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Its four largest satellites were discovered by Galileo and are called the Galilean moons in his honor. Jupiter is the fifth planet out from the sun, and it is by far the largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is 2.5 times that of all the rest of the planets combined.
Jupiter is at opposition Wednesday, May 9. That means Jupiter is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun and is 180 degrees from the sun. Jupiter is at its closest approach to the Earth, and its face will be fully illuminated by the sun making it a great time for viewing.
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Jupiter will be brighter than any other time this year and is visible all night long. At 9:30 p.m., Jupiter is nearly 30 degrees above the southeastern horizon, a good time to catch it with a small telescope or steadily mounted binoculars.
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