If you’re up late Monday night (Oct. 13), or early Tuesday morning (Oct. 14), look east for a stunning view.
The Moon will rise above the east-northeastern horizon shortly before midnight local time, just hours before its last quarter phase. About 6 degrees to its right will be shining Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
To estimate the distance between them, move your closed fist; It measures about 10 degrees at arm’s length, so Moon And Jupiter Roughly a little more than half of the fist will be separated. Of course, this is an illusion of perspective: The Moon is only 235,000 miles (378,000 kilometers) away. EarthJupiter, meanwhile, is 477 million miles (768 million km) away, 2,000 times further away in space than our natural satellite.
best views tuesday morning
After bright Venus, Jupiter is the best observer planet during the fall and upcoming winter seasons. However, currently, Vesper It is a morning object, not visible until dawn and visible only as a bright point in telescopes, making Jupiter unchallenged during the late evening and pre-dawn hours. Look for it to shine just above the east-northeast horizon by 11:40 p.m. local daylight time. But Jupiter won’t reach an altitude of 30 degrees above the horizon until 2:30 a.m. — a third of the way up in the sky — for some people, considered the dividing line between “low” objects versus “well-placed” objects. Given typical turbulent conditions, sharp binocular views are rarely possible until an object reaches an altitude of 30 degrees. earth’s atmosphere,
Jupiter is flying high in Gemini
At this time, Jupiter is in the constellation Gemini, the Twins, near the star that represents the twin brother’s right hand Pollux (Kappa Geminorum). Gemini is also where the ecliptic, the path SunThe Moon and planets come furthest north. This gives northern observers a definite advantage, because the further north a planet is, the more time it will spend above the horizon and the higher it will appear in the southern part of the sky.
When Jupiter reaches its highest point in the southern sky at local sunrise, it will be about 65 degrees high for Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis/St. Paul; 70 degrees for Salt Lake City and Philadelphia; 80 degrees for Houston and New Orleans and 85 degrees (practically overhead) for Brownsville, Texas and the Florida Keys.
what to see with binoculars
Jupiter is always a fascinating sight in a telescope. Light and dark cloud belts in the giant planet’s atmosphere appear parallel to the equator and change slowly. Meanwhile, the famous great red spotAppears to be moving like a bowl of jelly, shrinking in and out, dynamic fluctuations and shape changes as it contracts in size. At one time this space was so big that it could accommodate two to three Earths, but now this space accommodates only the size of one Earth.
Other attractions are the four Galilean satellites. During the hours late Monday night into early Tuesday morning, steady binoculars or a telescope will easily show all four of these large moons. From late Monday night to Tuesday morning, you will see callisto, EuropaAnd io lined up on one side of the planet, with Ganymede Alone on the other.
A rare 2026 revelation awaits
In less than a year from now, Jupiter and the moon will be part of one of the best astronomical attractions of 2026. On the morning of October 6, much of North America will see a spectacular eclipse of Jupiter (an occultation) by the waning crescent Moon, just 4 days before the new one.
This phenomenon will be visible across much of eastern and central North America. Jupiter’s nocturnal (nighttime) events are quite rare for any location. For example, for most US locations, the last opportunity was December 2004. The beauty of the crescent moon hiding such a brilliant object as Jupiter – with the bonus of Galilean satellites in binoculars and telescopes – will likely keep this event near the top of “must see” events in 2026.
Mark your calendars!
If you are looking for a telescope to view Jupiter best telescopes for deep space The guide can help. We have a guide for that too Astrophotography for beginners Which includes everything from equipment to shooting modes and more.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer in New York Hayden PlanetariumHe writes about astronomy natural history magazine, sky and telescope and other publications.
editor’s Note: If you photographed Jupiter and the moon and want to share it with Space.com readers, send your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
