Jupiter to make closest approach to Earth
Jupiter, the largest after the Sun in the solar system, will be at its
biggest and brightest on Monday night much to the delight of sky-gazers.
The planet, which has a system of rings, is at its closest approach and
thus would appear more big and bright than usual, N. Sri Raghunandan
Kumar of Planetary Society of India said.
The planet can be seen with naked eyes an hour after the sunset in the
eastern direction on Monday. It will be visible all through the night
and at midnight one can spot it in the southern direction at a higher
elevation, he said.
According to him, Jupiter, which has a large number of natural
satellites, will be in ‘opposition’ on Monday night. “A planet is said
to be in opposition when it is directly opposite to the Sun from our
view from Earth,” he said.
At its opposition, the planet is fully illuminated by the Sun and
appears disc-like, he said, adding, Jupiter’s opposition occurs every 13
months.
The last opposition of the planet occurred on October, 29, 2011 and the next will be January 6, 2014.
The minimum distance of Jupiter from Earth is approximately 588 million kms while its maximum distance is about 967 million kms.
On Monday, the ring planet will be at 608 million kms, which is very close to its minimum distance from Earth.
“Because of its closeness to Earth, Jupiter will be shinning very bright at -2.8 Magnitude,” Mr. Kumar said.
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