
Jupiter in 2025: Starting in January 2025, Jupiter was a very bright object near Aldebaran and the Hyades in Taurus the Bull. It was brighter than all the stars. It remained a bright star in the evening sky through May. It emerged in the morning sky in July. Jupiter did not reach opposition in 2025, but will do so on January 10, 2026. So Jupiter will be brightest starting in late December 2025 through January 2026.
Jupiter will reach opposition at 8 UTC (2 a.m. CDT) on January 10, 2026. Opposition is when Earth will fly between Jupiter and the sun, bringing the giant planet opposite the sun in our sky. As seen from around the globe, Jupiter will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. It’ll be shining at its highest in the sky, more or less where the sun was at your local noon, around midnight (the time each day when the sun will be below your feet). That’ll be true no matter where you are on Earth.
Jupiter will be closest to Earth one day before its opposition, on January 9, 2026. At that time, its distance will be 393 million miles/ 633 million km/ 35 light-minutes from Earth. Read more: Why is Jupiter closest before opposition?
Opposition constellation: Gemini the Twins.
Brightness at opposition: Magnitude -2.53. Jupiter shines as the 4th-brightest object in the sky, after the sun, moon and planet Venus. It’ll be the brightest starlike object visible for most of the night.
Size at opposition (as seen through a telescope): 46.58 arcseconds across.
Through binoculars (anytime): Jupiter reveals a bright disk. If you look closely, you’ll see several of its four Galilean moons appearing as pinpoints of light, arrayed in a line that bisects the giant planet.
How often does Jupiter reach opposition?
Jupiter takes 12 earthly years to orbit the sun once. So, the giant planet comes to opposition roughly every 13 months. By the same token, that’s how long Earth takes to travel once around the sun relative to Jupiter. Therefore, according to our earthly calendars, Jupiter’s opposition comes about a month later each year. Add to that the fact that there are 12 constellations of the zodiac. And there are 12 months in a year. So Jupiter appears in front of a new zodiacal constellation at each year’s opposition (Taurus); this year, Gemini).
2024 Jupiter opposition – December 7
2026 Jupiter opposition – January 10
2027 Jupiter opposition – February 10
Jupiter events in 2025-2026
January 1, 2025: Jupiter at perihelion or closest point to the sun for 2025.
February 4, 2025: Jupiter ends retrograde motion, a sign that the best time to observe Jupiter is ending. However, the planet will remain somewhere in the night sky through April 2025.
June 24, 2025: Jupiter at solar conjunction, or behind the sun as seen from Earth. Then it’ll emerge in the morning sky in July 2025.
November 11, 2025: Jupiter enters retrograde motion, that is, westward motion on the sky’s dome, a sign that opposition lay just ahead.
January 9, 2026: Jupiter at perigee, or closest to Earth for 2026.
January 10, 2026: Jupiter at opposition, or opposite the sun as seen from Earth.
A failed star
Perhaps you know that Jupiter isn’t a rocky planet like Earth. In fact, it’s more like a failed star, not massive enough or hot enough inside to spark thermonuclear fusion reactions, but some 2 1/2 times more massive than all the other planets in our solar system combined. Jupiter is big! But, without that thermonuclear reaction it can’t shine as stars do.
Overall, you’d need some 80 Jupiters – rolled into a ball – to be hot enough inside to spark fusion. So, Jupiter isn’t a star. That is, it doesn’t shine with its own light, but instead by reflected sunlight.
Yet in January 2026 – as bright Jupiter rises in the east opposite the sunset – you can stand on Earth all night and peer toward bright Jupiter in our sky. And indeed, you can imagine that, if the giant planet did have enough mass to shine as stars do, then around Jupiter’s opposition, we’d have no night at all. Instead, Jupiter would shine as a tiny 2nd sun, all night long.
Read more: How to see Jupiter’s moons

For precise sun and Jupiter rising times at your location:
Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide)
Stellarium (online planetarium program)
In-the-sky information and finder chart for your location


EarthSky Community Photos


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Bottom line: Giant Jupiter is closest to Earth for 2026 on January 9. Then Earth will fly between the sun and Jupiter – bringing Jupiter to opposition – January 10.
Read more: Jupiter’s moons: How to see and enjoy them
Read: Why is Jupiter closest to Earth 1 day before opposition?