Chances are, if you’ve been outside on a clear night after sunset and are facing east, you’ve seen this suspiciously bright light in the sky. Is it a plane? Is it a satellite? If it’s rising slowly and barely shimmering, you’re seeing Jupiter.
Jupiter is giant. With an equatorial diameter of about 88,000 miles and a mass 318 times that of Earth, Jupiter is easily the largest planet in our solar system.
Jupiter is not a solid planet like Earth. The vast majority of the giant planet is made of hydrogen gas mixed with a little helium. The surface you see in the images is only the upper layer of hydrogen clouds – Jupiter’s ever-changing weather – complete with the Great Red Dot.
The Great Red Spot is a raging cyclone spinning counterclockwise at more than 200 miles per hour. The Great Red Spot was so large that two of it could easily fit inside.
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since July 2016. Its mission is to fly frequently over the atmosphere and explore the composition and magnetic field of Jupiter. From its elevated position, Juno sent incredibly detailed images of the violent storms carried by Jupiter’s rapid rate of rotation.
James Webb Space Telescope images of Jupiter
Astronomers run James Webb Space Telescope JWST has shared exciting close-up images of Jupiter. The images show the massive planet in false colors to better reveal turbulent cloud tops and swirling storms. But JWST also captured the auroras (the northern and southern auroras) that often ignite the polar regions. Jupiter, like Earth, has a magnetic field that can trap the Sun’s particles in its upper atmosphere. These parts of the Sun interact with each other and light up to produce the aurora borealis on both planets.
Jupiter has a ring system smaller than Saturn which is almost invisible to all ground-based telescopes. But JWST has photographed these faint arcs of ice and dust as well as the many moons orbiting Jupiter.
What’s next for JWST? In September, astronomers released images of a farther planet: Neptune. Neptune lies far in the far reaches of our solar system, and is about seven times farther from Earth than Jupiter. However, JWST has captured the icy giant planet complete with its ring system, which lies between background stars.
how to find Jupiter in a telescope
Jupiter shines brighter than any other star-like object in the evening sky at the moment (Venus is much brighter but is not currently visible because it travels behind the sun). If you look at Jupiter through a pair of binoculars, you might notice a few points on either side of it. These are the four largest moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
These moons are large rocky worlds of their own. Io releases lava from countless active volcanoes. Europa is covered in ice that may contain a deep ocean of liquid water. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and larger than the planet Mercury. Callisto displays a damaged surface with most meteorite impacts. But these are only the largest of Jupiter’s 80 known moons.
You don’t need a giant space telescope to see details of Jupiter. Even with a simple backyard scope, you can see the planet’s disk, the two largest cloud bands and the four largest moons. With a moderate telescope, if it is facing forward and center, you can even see the great red dot.
Dean Regas is an astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory, and author of “100 Things to See in the Night Sky” and “How to Teach Adults About Pluto.” It can be accessed at [email protected]
International Moon Night Observation at the Cincinnati Observatory
what or what: Learn all about the ringed planet and see Saturn through telescopes (weather permitting). We welcome all ages.
When: Saturday October 1, 7-9 pm
where: Cincinnati Observatory, 3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout.
admission: $15, $7 for kids.
Jupiter’s Night at the Cincinnati Observatory
what or what: Learn all about the largest planet and see Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon through telescopes (weather permitting). We welcome all ages.
When: Friday October 7, 8-11 pm
where: Cincinnati Observatory, 3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout.
admission: $15, $7 for kids.
Information: No need for reservations; www.cincinnatiobservatory.org.
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