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Jupiter is organizing such an air show that it stands out above the glittering lights of New York.
Skywatcher Alexander Krivenyshev of WorldTimeZone.com has captured beautiful shots of Jupiter flamboyant on the Big Apple early Wednesday morning (June 12), the same day that the king of the planets approached the closest to the Earth in 2019.
Some of the photos that Krivenyshev took in western New Jersey, New Jersey, also show Callisto, Io and Europa – three of the four famous characters of Jupiter. Moons of Galilee, so named because they were discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. (The fourth is Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.)
Related: Night Sky, June 2019: what you can see this month (maps)
You can choose these moons yourself these days, if you have a clear sky, a little patience and a decent pair of binoculars. It's because Jupiter is so big, so bright and so close.
On Wednesday, the king of planets is located less than 641 million kilometers from Earth, according to EarthSky.orgthe more the two planets come together all year round. The milestone came two days after the opposition of Jupiter – when the sun, the Earth and Jupiter are all aligned, with the Earth in the middle.
The closest approach and the opposition are not perfectly synchronized because the orbits of Jupiter and Earth are slightly elliptical and on slightly different planes, explained EarthSky.org.
Jupiter and the Earth are increasingly distant from each other, but the gas giant will remain a bright element in our night sky for the next few months (although it is relatively low from an observer's point of view at mid-latitudes).
Indeed, there is a good opportunity to watch the moon and Jupiter from Sunday evening to Monday morning (June 16th and 17th), as Joe Rao, columnist of space observation, explains. at Space.com, in its article June Night Sky Guide.
"At sundown on June 16, look down to the east-southeast horizon for the rising moon, and located prominently at about 4 degrees in its upper right corner will be Jupiter," wrote Rao. . "Around midnight, Jupiter will appear to the right of the moon and the gap between them will widen to 6 degrees C. Around 5 o'clock in the morning, Jupiter is about to lie down, the moon now standing at 8 degrees in the upper left corner. "
(Your closed fist, at arm's length, covers about 10 degrees.)
Editor's note: If you would like to share a starry sky photo that you would like to share with us and our press partners for a story or an image gallery, send us pictures and comments to the following address: [email protected].
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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