Star-gazers prepare for opposition of Jupiter

Star-gazers prepare for opposition of Jupiter (3 March 2004)

Jupiter will be at opposition at 1.05pm tomorrow (March 4). During the opposition, Jupiter, the Earth and the Sun will align in a straight line with the Earth in between.(Figure 1).

On the night following the opposition, Jupiter will be fully illuminated by the Sun and appear very bright. Jupiter is the second brightest planet after Venus. The visual magnitude of Jupiter is around -2.5 a few weeks before and after the opposition.

Details of the times of rising, transiting and setting of Jupiter from tomorrow night (March 4) to Friday morning are as follows:

Rise of Jupiter	6.21 p.m., 4 March 2004 in the east-northeast
Transit of Jupiter	12.35 a.m., 5 March 2004 elevation around 75 degrees due south
Setting of Jupiter	6.49 a.m., 5 March 2004 in the west-northwest

The opposition of Jupiter occurs roughly every 399 days. Jupiter and the Great Red Spot on its surface can be observed a few weeks before and after the opposition of Jupiter. It will also be a good time to observe Jupiter's four largest satellites, namely Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. A telescope with a magnification of 40 times or above is recommended to observe Jupiter.

Please refer to the Hong Kong Observatory homepage for details:

http://www.weather.gov.hk/gts/event/event-jupiter_e.htm

Figure 1 Relative positions of Jupiter, the Earth and the Sun during opposition of Jupiter.