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As Jupiter approaches opposition, the event when our planet Earth is between Jupiter and the sun. Jupiter and the sun are in opposite sides of the sky. Jupiter rises when the sun sets and Jupiter sets when the sun rises. Jupiter is in the south at midnight, when the sun is in the south at noon.
A few weeks before opposition, Jupiter appears in the evening and the morning sky. Here’s what’s to see depending on when you step outside to see it.
Evening
- May 19: At 10:30 p.m. CDT, the moon, 15.2 days past its New phase and 98% illuminated, is nearly 7° to the upper right of Jupiter and almost 9° to the left of Antares in the southeastern sky.
- May 20: At 11 p.m. CDT, the moon, 16.2 days old and 94% illuminated, is nearly 7° up in the southeast and 6.5° to the lower left of Jupiter.
Morning
By morning , the moon appears in the southwest.
- May 20: At the beginning of morning twilight (about 4 a.m. CDT), the moon, 15.4 days old and 98% illuminated, is 4.6° to the right of Jupiter. The Giant planet is 24° up in the south-southwest.
- May 21: At the beginning of morning twilight, the moon, 16.5 days old and 93% illuminated, is 25° up in the south and 8.2° to the left of Jupiter.