Closest Encounter with Jupiter until 2022   
       
   Sept. 15, 2010:  Been outside at midnight lately? There's something you really   
   need to see. Jupiter is approaching Earth for the closest encounter between   
   the two planets in more than a decade--and it is dazzling.   
       
   The night of closest approach is Sept. 20-21st. This is also called "the night   
   of opposition" because Jupiter will be opposite the sun, rising at sunset and   
   soaring overhead at midnight. Among all denizens of the midnight sky, only the   
   Moon itself will be brighter.   
   [...]   
   Science@NASA reader Tamas Ladanyi took this picture of a friend photographing   
   Jupiter over a lake in the Bakony mountains of Hungary on Sept. 5th. "The   
   giant planet was remarkably bright," says Ladanyi. [larger image]   
       
   Earth-Jupiter encounters happen every 13 months when the Earth laps Jupiter in   
   their race around the sun. But because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the sun   
   in perfect circles, they are not always the same distance apart when Earth   
   passes by. On Sept. 20th, Jupiter will be as much as 75 million km closer than   
   previous encounters and will not be this close again until 2022.   
       
   The view through a telescope is excellent. Because Jupiter is so close, the   
   planet's disk can be seen in rare detail--and there is a lot to see. For   
   instance, the Great Red Spot, a cyclone twice as wide as Earth, is bumping up   
   against another storm called "Red Spot Jr." The apparition of two planet-sized   
   tempests grinding against one another must be seen to be believed.   
   [...]   
   Jupiter's "kissing red spots" photographed by Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY,   
   using a 10-inch telescope. The full-sized image shows the golden disk of   
   Jupiter's moon Io. Also, Jupiter's trademark South Equatorial Belt (SEB)   
   recently vanished, possibly submerging itself beneath high clouds.     
   Researchers say it could reappear at any moment. The dramatic resurgence would   
   be accompanied by a globe-straddling profusion of spots and cloudy swirls,   
   clearly visible in backyard telescopes.   
       
   And what was that flash? Amateur astronomers have recently reported a   
   surprising number of fireballs in Jupiter's atmosphere. Apparently, many small   
   asteroids or comet fragments are hitting the giant planet and exploding among   
   the clouds. Researchers who have studied these events say visible flashes   
   could be occurring as often as a few times a month.   
       
   Finally, we mustn't forget the moons of Jupiter because they are also having a   
   close encounter with Earth. These are planet-sized worlds with active   
   volcanoes (Io), possible underground oceans (Europa), vast fields of craters   
   (Callisto), and mysterious global grooves (Ganymede). When Galileo discovered   
   the moons 400 years ago, they were no more than pinpricks of light in his   
   primitive spy glass. Big, modern amateur telescopes reveal actual planetary   
   disks with colorful markings.   
       
   It makes you wonder, what would Galileo think?   
       
   Answer: "I'm getting up at midnight!"   
       
       
   Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   More Information   
   Bonus: Coincidentally, the planet Uranus is also at opposition on Sept. 21st.   
   On that night it will travel across the sky alongside Jupiter, although not   
   nearly so bright. Being almost three times smaller and five times farther away   
   than Jupiter, Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye. It looks great,   
   however, through a small telescope. Just point your optics at Jupiter and you   
   will find emerald Uranus less than 1ø away.   
       
   Dedication: The author dedicates this story to Jack Horkheimer, executive   
   director of Miami's Space Transit Planetarium, who died on August 20, 2010.   
   Jack was an icon of astronomy outreach. His weekly reports on the night sky,   
   broadcast by PBS since 1976, reached millions of people and often influenced   
   the narrative of Science@NASA stories. Even this story, published after Jack's   
   death, contains some of his words. Thanks, Jack, and "Keep Looking Up!"   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.54   
    * Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)