"Jupiter At Its Brightest and Closest In A Dozen Years!"

Scheduled air date: 1999 Oct 18-24

Brilliant Jupiter can be seen in the Eastern sky just after sunset, followed not far behind by Saturn and shown here joined by the Moon on the evening of October 23.   Jupiter is visible all night long as it crosses to the Western horizon.
(Shown about an hour after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes.)

Jupiter appears at its brightest because it is at opposition—directly opposite the Sun, as seen from Earth—at the same time that it is making its closest approach to the Sun.

If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.

Illustrations on this page were created using TheSky Astronomy Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc.