Moon and Jupiter – Image credit: Juerg Alean

Full Moon – and Jupiter!

Man, the light of tonight’s full moon is brilliant and powerful. It’s shining in my living room window at the moment, casting blue shadows on the trees and grass across the road.

Tonight I happened to be driving around the countryside at around 9:30 p.m. and I was astonished to see how huge and obvious Jupiter was in the night sky. It’s in the southern sky, and when I caught sight of it this evening, I knew immediately what it was, as it was the only object within a great swath of the sky.

Sky Guide Pointed Me In the Right Direction

To be honest, when I first started reading last week about how close Jupiter would be over the next several days, I ‘cheated’ and enlisted the aid of my favorite astronomy app, Sky Guide. Karl and I were taking a walk and I was describing how Jupiter was going to be so close to us that its four moons would be visible to us with only the use of a set of binoculars.

For some reason, I thought the planet would be hanging out more in the western sky. So I was surprised when I located it just under the horizon to our south. That stood me in good stead, though, because I knew where to look tonight, when the sky became surprisingly clear – at least for a moment.

I was headed south as I was driving home, so it wasn’t as if I had to crane my neck or even hardly take my eyes off the road, particularly when I got within about two miles of our home. I was driving on a stretch of road that is elevated and provides a remarkably unobstructed view of the sky. And I saw it immediately – it almost looked like a plane coming toward me, it was so bright. But in spite of the illusion of ‘twinkling’ that the atmosphere causes, the object did not move; that’s how I knew for sure it was Jupiter.

Caught Without My Binoculars

Unfortunately, I didn’t have binoculars in the car or I would have pulled over right then and there to see if I could focus in on its moons.

Our moon was not yet up (or it was so low on the horizon that it was obscured by trees and I couldn’t see it), so its brilliant, reflected light was not detracting from the brightness of Jupiter.

Obviously, the main photo I’m using tonight was not taken tonight, since the moon in the photo is not full. It was actually taken on January 22, 2013. But it’s such a cool photo, and the four moons of Jupiter are so clear, I thought I would include it. This only reinforces my resolve to put a pair of binocs in my car so I have them when I need them – perhaps even tomorrow night!

Everyone Seemed to Be Tucked Into Their Homes, Unaware…

As an aside, I took particular notice of how few cars were out and about on this Monday evening after the sun had set. It made me realize just how much of our population rolls up their sidewalks and puts themselves to bed every night, remarkably oblivious to the amazing phenomena that occur above our heads all the time. But this made me all the more certain that I would write about this tonight and urge you all to get yourselves outside tomorrow night to take a look!

Check that Jupiter out – and if you have binoculars, look for its moons. What a cool opportunity to expand our horizons.

Perhaps tomorrow night I’ll give you a taste of the astrological aspects that this Jupiter, transiting Sagittarius, is bringing to our lives.

In the meantime – again – I urge you to get the Sky Guide app! You won’t regret it!

(T-893)