Science & Nature
Jupiter So Bright You’ll Need to Wear Shades? The Planet Will Light Up the Sky This Weekend
Jupiter outshining Saturn during a spectacular meeting in 2020. (m-gucci / iStock)
Not even Chicago’s light pollution can dim the glow of Jupiter.
On Saturday, the giant planet will shine its brightest of the year and will be visible all night as it travels the sky from sunset to sunrise.
According to NASA, look for Jupiter to begin its rise in the east-northeast. Aside from the moon and Venus, it will be the brightest object in the sky. After Venus sets, Jupiter will outshine all the other stars.
Why the added sparkle?
Saturday’s brilliant show is due to a phenomenon known as “opposition,” which means the sun and Jupiter are directly opposite each other, with Earth smack in between the two.
How can I view it?
Just look up in the sky any time after dark.
The planet can easily be seen with the naked eye, but a good pair of binoculars or a backyard telescope will deliver an added bonus: a glimpse of Jupiter’s four largest moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. (The planet has 95 moons total.)
How bright is bright?
Astronomers measure the brightness of stars (and planets) on a “backwards” magnitude scale in which less is more. The lower the number, the brighter the object.
For reference, the brightness of the sun is -26.7, while the full moon is -12.6 magnitude. Venus at its brightest is -4.6, and the faintest stars visible to the eye are a +7.2 magnitude. Polaris, aka the North Star, is roughly a +2.
On Saturday, Jupiter will be -2.8.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
