Jupiter will soon be at Opposition from the Sun as viewed from Earth. Currently it is in apparent retrograde motion in the constellation of Ophiuchus, about 8° to the east of Antares, the magnitude +1.0 star in Scorpius. Tonight Jupiter will a little west of the Moon which will be a day past full.
The following are my predictions of Jupiter's upcoming oppositional extremes:
JUN 05 at 23 hr UT: Opposition in Celestial Longitude
JUN 05 at 23 hr UT: Greatest Elongation of 179.3°
JUN 06 at 01 hr UT: Opposition in Right Ascension
JUN 06 at 04 hr UT: Greatest Brilliance at Mag -2.6
JUN 07 at 12 hr UT: Closest Approach at 4.30438 AU
Around the time of Opposition, Jupiter will be rising near sunset, transiting the southern meridian around local midnight, and setting near sunrise. These events will occur about four minutes earlier each day. Jupiter's ecliptical latitude at opposition will be N 0.7°, and its declination will be S 21.9°. That means for northern hemisphere observers, at meridian transit Jupiter will culminate at an altitude that is equivalent to one's co-latitude (90° minus one's geographic latitude) minus 21.9°. For example, I live at N 42.1°, therefore it will culminate at 26.0° above my southern horizon.
At Opposition, Jupiter's apparent equatorial angular diameter will be 45.7 arcseconds. Its axial tilt relative to Earth will be -2.6°. Jupiter's four great satellites orbit in planes close to the planet's equatorial plane. The tilt means that this year only the inner three Gallilean satellites (not Callisto) will experience eclipses, occultations, transits and shadow transits relative to Jupiter.
After Jupiter's 2007 Opposition, it will again become stationary in celestial longitude and resume its apparent direct motion on AUG 07 at 02 hr UT. Jupiter will be 5° north of Antares on AUG 21 at 10 hr UT, their closet mutual approach this year. Jupiter will reach Eastern Quadrature (90° east of Sun) on SEP 04 at 00 hr UT. Eventually it will move in Conjunction behind the Sun on DEC 23. Jupiter will not be occulted by the Moon in 2007.
For information on the visibility of all naked-eye planets, please consult my monthly astronomical wallpaper calendar at:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
Also, that webpage will frequently have graphics demonstrating upcoming shadow transits across the disk of Jupiter due to its satellites. There will be a double shadow transit on June 9.
I "discovered" Jupiter in 1958 with my new 3" reflector after realizing it was not a UFO mother ship accompanied by four scouts. Since then I have welcomed its return to the evening sky every 13 months. The planet and the dances with its four great satellites are indeed pleasures to behold. Enjoy Jupiter's 2007 apparition!
The following are my predictions of Jupiter's upcoming oppositional extremes:
JUN 05 at 23 hr UT: Opposition in Celestial Longitude
JUN 05 at 23 hr UT: Greatest Elongation of 179.3°
JUN 06 at 01 hr UT: Opposition in Right Ascension
JUN 06 at 04 hr UT: Greatest Brilliance at Mag -2.6
JUN 07 at 12 hr UT: Closest Approach at 4.30438 AU
Around the time of Opposition, Jupiter will be rising near sunset, transiting the southern meridian around local midnight, and setting near sunrise. These events will occur about four minutes earlier each day. Jupiter's ecliptical latitude at opposition will be N 0.7°, and its declination will be S 21.9°. That means for northern hemisphere observers, at meridian transit Jupiter will culminate at an altitude that is equivalent to one's co-latitude (90° minus one's geographic latitude) minus 21.9°. For example, I live at N 42.1°, therefore it will culminate at 26.0° above my southern horizon.
At Opposition, Jupiter's apparent equatorial angular diameter will be 45.7 arcseconds. Its axial tilt relative to Earth will be -2.6°. Jupiter's four great satellites orbit in planes close to the planet's equatorial plane. The tilt means that this year only the inner three Gallilean satellites (not Callisto) will experience eclipses, occultations, transits and shadow transits relative to Jupiter.
After Jupiter's 2007 Opposition, it will again become stationary in celestial longitude and resume its apparent direct motion on AUG 07 at 02 hr UT. Jupiter will be 5° north of Antares on AUG 21 at 10 hr UT, their closet mutual approach this year. Jupiter will reach Eastern Quadrature (90° east of Sun) on SEP 04 at 00 hr UT. Eventually it will move in Conjunction behind the Sun on DEC 23. Jupiter will not be occulted by the Moon in 2007.
For information on the visibility of all naked-eye planets, please consult my monthly astronomical wallpaper calendar at:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
Also, that webpage will frequently have graphics demonstrating upcoming shadow transits across the disk of Jupiter due to its satellites. There will be a double shadow transit on June 9.
I "discovered" Jupiter in 1958 with my new 3" reflector after realizing it was not a UFO mother ship accompanied by four scouts. Since then I have welcomed its return to the evening sky every 13 months. The planet and the dances with its four great satellites are indeed pleasures to behold. Enjoy Jupiter's 2007 apparition!
For astronomical graphics, including
monthly wallpaper calendar, visit:
CurtRenz.com/astronomical
Curt Renz
