eLifespaces

Armed with my new iPhone app, Star Walk, a spotting scope and Celestron SkyMaster binoculars, the quest was on to view Jupiter in last night’s sky. This past week, the local channel meteorologists have been discussing Jupiter approach with Earth, the closest encounter between the two planets in more than a decade.

According to NASA, Earth-Jupiter encounters happen every 13 months when the Earth laps Jupiter in their race around the sun. But because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the sun in perfect circles, they are not always the same distance apart when Earth passes by. On Sept. 20th, Jupiter was as much as 75 million km closer than previous encounters and will not be this close again until 2022.

Grab your spouse, your kids, and/or your significant other and go have some fun. Because Jupiter is so close, the planet's disk can be seen in rare detail--and there is a lot to see. For instance, the Great Red Spot, a cyclone twice as wide as Earth, is bumping up against another storm called "Red Spot Jr." Among all denizens of the midnight sky, only the moon itself will be brighter.