Jupiter to provide cosmic show

Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky, except for the moon, when it makes its closest approach to Earth in more than a decade, U.S. astronomers say.
Better catch Jupiter next week in the night sky. It won't be that big or bright again until 2022. Jupiter will pass 368 million miles from Earth late Monday, its closest approach since 1963. You can see it low in the east around dusk. Around midnight, it will be directly overhead. That's because Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun, into the wee hours of Tuesday.
The close encounter will happen Monday night, with the planet visible at dusk in the east and at its brightest directly overhead at midnightEncounters happen every 13 months when 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, Tony Phillips of NASA says.
On Sept. 20, Jupiter will be as much as 46.6 million miles closer than in previous encounters and will not be this close again until 2022, he says.
The solar system's largest planet already appears as an incredibly bright star — three times brighter than the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. The only thing brighter in the night sky right now is our moon. Binoculars and telescopes will dramatically improve the view as Jupiter, along with its many moons, rises in the east as the sun sets.
"Jupiter is so bright right now, you don't need a sky map to find it," said Tony Phillips, a California astronomer under contract with NASA. "You just walk outside and see it. It's so eye-catching, there it is."
Coincidentally, Uranus also will make a close approach the same night. It will appear close to Jupiter but harder to see with the naked eye. Through a telescope, it will shine like an emerald-coloured disk less than one degree from Jupiter.
And for those who are early risers instead of night owls, Jupiter will be visible setting in the west just before sunrise.