Jupiter comes closest to Earth today, in an extremely rare occurrence, in almost 60 years. Jupiter is approximately 600 million miles away from Earth at its farthest point. It will come as near as 367 million miles today making it an unmissable event for all.
The next time the planet comes this close to the Earth will be 107 years from now in 2129.
Jupiter takes over 11 years to complete one revolution around the sun. During this revolution, it reaches a point on the opposite side of the sun where it can be seen from Earth. Interestingly, today, Jupiter will be in a unique arrangement in its orbit which will make it closest to the earth in 59 years.
The largest planet in the solar system will appear with a -2.9 magnitude in the skies, giving it an even brighter and bigger appearance. The planet will be in the skies throughout the night from 5:29 pm today till 5:31 am tomorrow, according to media reports.
Adam Kobleski, a research astrophysicist at NASA recommends that an ideal viewing spot will be dark, dry, and at an elevation. "With good binoculars, the banding (at least the central band) and three or four of the Galilean satellites (moons) should be visible.", he says. In order to observe Jupiter's Great Red Spot and bands with extra detail, Mr Kobelski recommended a 4-inch or larger telescope.
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