This weekend I get to experience the dingy skies over a nameless lake somewhere between Grand Forks , North Dakota and Bemidji , Minnesota . It was my first meter see the faint banding of our own Milky Way . But we had our telescope pointed on something we could have run across just as easily from a Brooklyn stoop : Jupiter , the largest major planet in the solar scheme .
Jupiter is in resistance today , meaning it ’s precisely opposite the Lord’s Day in the sky , like the Moon when it ’s full . The gas giant will be smart than any wiz in the sky . I was able to see the bands of flatulency and detritus and the four brightest moons , Ganymede , Callisto , Europa , and Io , with a small telescope . Two of the synodic month were even visible from my Brooklyn apartment with my budget binoculars ( these guy ) .
You should look at it .
The major planet will actually be close to Earth on May 10,according toEarthSky.com . The opposite does n’t line up with the closest approach because the two major planet ’ orbits are n’t thoroughgoing circle in perfect alignment .
Not only will it be passing bright , but Jupiter is the planet du jour for place science . TheJuno missioncontinues to orbit and retort bothstunning picturesand interestingnew results , like the behavior of the planet ’s jet streams beneath its cloud tops .
As of now , the Juno space vehicle budget only has it in operationuntil July . After that , it ’s either death at the hand of the planet ’s gun and gravity , or a budget annexe .
As long as you ’re looking for Jupiter tonight , you might as well indicate your field glasses at thequarter Moonto catch a closeup of the sun lay out on the craters . Just before sunup , you could even see crimson Mars or Saturn and its ring .
This has been yourregular reminderthat you need not rely on NASA for beautiful view of space . you’re able to always look at it yourself .
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