You might not see the planet Jupiter in the east before sunrise in early May 2011, especially with the unaided eye. Jupiter still sits low in the glow of dawn. But that’ll change dramatically as the giant planet climbs skyward throughout May. Look for Jupiter to become visible soon!
Jupiter isn’t the only solar system world hiding in the glare of morning twilight in May 2011. So are the planets Mercury and Mars. Mars and Jupiter are climbing upward from the glare of the rising sun, toward Mercury and Venus. Venus might be the only planet shining brightly enough and high enough to be seen before sunrise in early May, though it appears quite low in the eastern dawn.
However, Jupiter rapidly soars upward as Venus falls slowly downward. From about May 7 to May 15, look for Jupiter, Venus and Mercury to occupy a single binocular field of view. Use binoculars to catch them together and low in the east some 45 minutes before sunrise. Thereafter, Jupiter will become the highest of the early morning planets. In late May, in fact, you may need to use Jupiter to find Venus and Mars deep down in the glow of morning twilight.
Use Jupiter to find Venus/Mars pairing before sunrise
Saturn, the lone evening planet in May 2011
By the middle of May, or before, there’s a good chance of spotting Jupiter with the eye alone. In late May and June, Jupiter will probably be easier than Venus to spot, because Jupiter will rise before dawn, whereas Venus won’t rise until a short while before sunrise.
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Animation of morning planets in May 2011
Circle May 28, 29 and 30 on your calendar, as the crescent moon visits Jupiter. Look east, starting an hour or two before sunrise. Jupiter will be easy to spot. Jupiter will rise about two hours before the sun whereas Venus will rise about one hour before.
Crescent moon above Jupiter at dawn May 28
Jupiter, moon closer together at dawn May 29
The planet Jupiter for the rest of 2011
Starting sometime in May 2011, Jupiter will be visible for at least a part of the night for the rest of this year. Earth is now heading for Jupiter in our smaller, faster orbit around the sun, causing Jupiter to rise sooner every day. On April 6, Jupiter was at conjunction – on the other side of the sun, as seen from Earth. If you could have looked down upon the plane of the solar system then, you would have seen Jupiter, the sun and Earth making a line in space, with the sun in between Jupiter and Earth. At that time, Jupiter was invisible because it was lost in the sun’s glare. However, as the Earth and Jupiter continue to circle the sun, we will gain ground on the slower-moving Jupiter. Therefore, Jupiter will become visible for longer periods of time month by month.
On August 1, 2011, Jupiter will be at western quadrature – 90 degrees from the sun in Earth’s sky. If you could look down upon the solar system plane at this juncture, you’d see the sun, Earth and Jupiter making a 90-degree angle in space. Around west quadrature, Jupiter rises in the east around midnight and shines high up at dawn. The moon, as a matter of fact, is at western quadrature at last quarter moon.
Jupiter at west quadrature on August 1, 2011
On October 29, 2011, Jupiter will be at opposition. At opposition, the Earth passes in between the sun and Jupiter, at which time Jupiter lies opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. If you could look down upon the solar system plane at this time, you’d see the sun, Earth and Jupiter making a straight line in space, with Earth sitting in between the sun and Jupiter. Because Jupiter is opposite the sun at opposition, Jupiter rises in the east at sunset, soars to its highest point in the sky at midnight and sets in the west at sunrise.
An opposition is extra special, because that’s when Jupiter shines all night long, from dusk till dawn. Also, this is when Earth comes closest to Jupiter for the year, and Jupiter, in turn, shines most brightly in our sky. What’s more, the 2011 opposition of Jupiter will present Jupiter nearest to Earth until the year 2022.
But don’t wait until the October 29 opposition to enjoy Jupiter. Start watching in late April and May. Expect it to be big and bright in May, even at morning dawn! Just remember … Jupiter is far brighter than any star. In fact, it’s the fourth brightest object in all the heavens, after the sun, moon and the planet Venus.
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january 30,
oh what a beautiful night it is in Idaho, we have been watching what appears to be a planet to the southeast of us it has many different colors . I guess this to must be jupiter wow !!!!!
you kno what u rite
So look for Jupiter as soon as night falls on these February evenings, and expect it to be big and bright! It sets around 9 p.m. in early February and 8 p.m. by the end of the month. Throughout this month Jupiter will be becoming a bit fainter each day as Earth flies ahead in our smaller, faster orbit around the sun. But Jupiter will remain a wonderful object to see in our sky, even as we fly ahead of it. Just remember … Jupiter is far brighter than any star.
Beautiful sparkle!
Have had my eye on it here in NW Oregon :)
This is great, got to get out with the camera! :-)
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I thought all you people from New Jersey would like to know that Jupiter was very prominent in the sky last evening and Orion’s belt was very visible.
Thanks for the info!! It was very helpful and interesting!! God Bless.
Here in the UK West Midlands we have been seeing glorious views of Venus in the pre-dawn and Jupiter just after sunset these past few weeks. Dazzling very brightly to the naked eye.
Wow…very helpful article. I kept seeing this one bright star visible before any other stars show up later at night, and it’s been bothering me all month what it was. I just got a pretty powerful telescope during the holidays, so I’ll be out tomorrow night checking out Jupiter. I’m in New Jersey, and despite the light pollution from New York it’s ver visible about after 6:00PM. People in NJ, check basically straight west in the sky after the sun goes down, maybe a little south. Again, very helpful post, and thank you so much for the info. Now I know what I’m looking at!
I seen Orions belt for the first time in my life and im eighteen. It was beautiful, I havent looked up to the stars in awhile. Love the article, very helpful. =]
Friend of mine gave me a telescope and I don’t know to much about it, I tried looking at a bright star ,but you can hardly see it when focused in. It is a Meade 4500 scope. Can anyone give me some helpful hints,
I live in Prince Edward Island Canada. Thanks/
Mike,
You might try setting up your scope in the daytime and trying to focus on distant objects.
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No problem with Jupiter then, cause i just don’t remember seeing her so bright over the years?
Wow for the first time i seen jupiter in the sky with my scope and it is big then earth 2 earth actually you can fit earth in the plante jupiter alsome my uncle is a astronote and he send me pic of the plante you would not belive it is so beautiful
Kept looking up at Orion and wondered what the bright star was beside it. Thanks!
I have been watching Jupitor from the island of Kauai,,, beautiful! It is still so bright.
OMG THATS WHAT IT WAS I THOUGHT IT WAS A UFO BUT WHEN IT WAS 7:15 AM UK IT WENT AND APPERED
im trying to work out what i cought in a photo im not into astronomy at all is someone knows please reply at around 8-830am i took a photo a beautiful clear sky the sun is huge and low in the sky much higher up to the right theres something which is perfectly round could be mistaken for the moon and is almost turqoise in colour is this jupiter ?
id just likke to add north east uk
I been searching what I saw tonight around 6:20 pm in the northeastern sky in southern Pa. It was beautiful. A stationary brilliant red light to the north of the setting sun. It lied under the crescent moon. I’m guessing it was Jupiter. Sadly, I didn’t see it but for a minute before it disappeared. But it was bright red against a gorgeous reddish sunset that was lower in the horizon. If anyone knows for sure what this was, please let me know.
I want to see Jupiter tonight ie, on 9 Mar 2011 in the west soon after sunset. Is it possible? I am in western India.
Umakant,
Yes, Jupiter is visible from India. Look west soon after sunset. You’ll see this brilliant planet low in the sky at dusk and nightfall, but it’ll set below the horizon by early evening.
Clear skies!
Bruce
Have seen Jupiter from Dhaka, Bangladesh, throughout the autumn months – the brightest object after the full moon!
I have been reading about how in India, several have sited two moons the night before the earthquake in Japan.
Is there any way to explain this? I’ve been searching online, but have not had much luck. Thanks!
Lauren,
For information concerning the moon’s supposed influenced on the earthquake in Japan, read http://earthsky.org/earth/did-a-supermoon-cause-the-march-11-earthquake-in-japan.
Bruce
what’s up with the moon tonight i have never seen anything like it be for its huge,very bright and very low in horizon?
Excellent sky, i cant forget this night until i live.”long live this astronomical night….” even though my words are silly i prefer this
WOW …..
What a beautiful morning sky, I was late for work because I couldn’t drag myself away from it.
i saw it too this morning… i read it in our newspaper. my room faces the east, so this morning just before sunrise, i woke up to see da stars(planets)… guess what? i did not see any stars exept for da 3 planets… i woke my sleepy sista up to see it too … it was amazing….
Hi, my name is Dave from Southern New Jersey, I was curious about what planet I was seeing. It becomes visible around 3A.M. low in the southeast, rising and continuing towards the southwest until the sun becomes too strong to see it. I am assuming by this page that it is Jupiter, although it is much later than may. I was wondering if I could be wrong and if anyone else would have some insight. Thank you.
David,
From your description, I suspect that you’re referrring to the star Fomalhaut, not the planet Jupiter. Jupiter rises in the east or east-northeast, whereas Fomalhaut rises in the southeast. Throughout July 2011, both appear rather low in the sky around 2 a.m. Jupiter gives itself away because it’s so dazzlingly bright – far brighter than any star. For an update, read http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/july-2011-guide-to-the-five-visible-planets.
Bruce
Similar to David, I also noticed a very bright, very distant object in the south-eastern sky around 1 A.M. last night. However, the object was still in relatively the same south-eastern area of the sky around 5:45 A.M. this morning as it was approaching dawn; still very visible.
Always amazed by the various stars and planets visible on Earth.
What happens with our magnetic field? If jupiter has such a strong magnetic field and comes closer then ever?
I live in northern California and last night, Sep. 24th, I saw and recorded on my phone what I thought was a bright star dim out of sight and then become bright again. I used the Sky View app that said Jupiter was in that part of the sky. What would make Jupiter do that multiple times within 5 min?
For the first time today I knowingly saw Jupiter in the morning sky.
I saw a bright ‘star’ at about WSW, wondered what it must be and checked on my newly downloaded Google Sky Map. The only possible object was Jupiter!
How many times must I have seen it in a morning and not even thought!
Walking home on a beautiful night here in Orlando, my ten year old son and I were naming stars and constellations in the perfectly clear night sky. When we got home we took out the telescope, checked out the quarter moon and some stars and were looking for a planet when we saw one on the east horizon. When we finally got it into view and recognized it as Jupiter, to our excitement, we could also see four of its moons in a line and some of its bands (even with our small scope and the light pollution). What a thrill!
A couple of nights ago, my wife told me to get up and see the bright star or thing in the sky. She said that it had move from the horizon level to a really hgiher level. This was a very a very big and bright “star”. Was not sure myself until I googled it. It is Jupiter, and try to go out on the deck to see it everynight. Think how far it is and how close since you can see it. It’s just beautiful.
[...] a special event on this day; Earth will pass immediately between Jupiter and the sun. This “opposition” is particularly spectacular because Jupiter will be visible all night in the Northern Hemisphere, rising at dusk in the east, [...]
I keep seeing bright lights in the eastern sky at the earliest part of the night. Sometime they seem brighter than others. Im looking for a logical answer, besides UFOs. I’m not an astronomer or UFO hunter, but I’m now convinced one of them is Jupiter. Just have to figure out now what the others are.
Why is Jupiter so BRIGHT lately?