Wow! Largest Planet Will Be Closest To Earth In 59 Years! See How Close

You may want to get out your binoculars or a telescope tonight.  No rain is in the forecast, skies should be reasonably clear.  And you might be able to see our Solar System's largest planet in the sky.

According to NASA, Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in 59 years, tonight!

The largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant will be at opposition, meaning Earth is directly between it and the sun.  If you are a stargazer, tonight could be perfect for you. You may be able to see it with your naked eye. Or get out your binoculars or borrow a pair from a friend.  Jupiter will appear brighter and bigger in the sky, making the event a great opportunity to catch a glimpse.

For the record, there will be about 367 million miles (590.6 million kilometers) between Earth and Jupiter. Jupiter is about 600 million miles (965.6 million kilometers) away from our home planet at its farthest point.  You can click HERE for more information about this event, and see a video that will explain things in more detail.  You may also be able to see Mars and a few of Jupiter's moons.

I still have memories of one New Year's Eve, when a group of us set up a telescope in a parking lot of my friends apartment complex, and were able to get a great glimpse of the surface of the moon.  It really is quite cool.  Perhaps the James Webb Space Telescope can get some great shots of the planet tonight.  By the way, if you missed my article about the pictures of Neptune's rings that were taken you can read that HERE.  Happy stargazing!

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