UK skywatchers looking at the rising 13-day-old gibbous Moon low in the south-southeast at dusk on Sunday, 27 May will also see conspicuous planet Jupiter close by. The Moon’s separation from the solar system’s largest planet is just 3¼ degrees at 10:30pm BST, the pair fitting comfortably within the field of view of typical binoculars. AN graphic by Ade Ashford.In an earlier post I wrote about Jupiter at opposition on 9 May and the Jovian phenomena visible in backyard telescopes from Western Europe this month. As May draws to a close, it’s still prime time for the solar system’s largest planet. As seen from the heart of the British Isles, Jupiter is currently best placed for observation and highest in the southern sky just before midnight.
Skywatchers in the UK looking at the rising Moon at dusk on Sunday, 27 May will see that Jupiter is situated close by. At around 10:30pm BST this night the 13-day-old gibbous Moon lies just 3¼ degrees to the upper left of the solar system’s largest planet, so the pair will be framed nicely in the field of view of most binoculars.
Seeing double near Jupiter
Look more closely in the vicinity of Jupiter and you’ll notice a wide double star slightly more than two Moon widths (68 arcminutes, actually) to the lower right of the planet. These stars are alpha1 (α1) and α2 Librae, the pair commonly known by their Arabic proper name of الزُبَانَى الجَنُوبِي, or Zubenelgenubi (sometimes written Zuben Elgenubi).This is a simulated 25x magnification erect-image (i.e., powerful binocular or terrestrial spotting ‘scope) field of view showing Jupiter and its Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto at UK dusk on 27 May. Just over a degree to the lower right of Jupiter lies the wide double star α1 and α2 Librae, commonly known as Zubenelgenubi. AN graphic by Ade Ashford.While the name Zubenelgenubi actually refers to the brighter magnitude +2.8 α2 Librae component, this star and its magntiude +5.2 companion (α1) are separated by a wide 231 arcseconds, hence even the smallest binocular will resolve them. Both α1 and α2 are part of a multiple star system some 76 light-years away. For owners of equatorially-mounted telescopes or computerised GoTo mounts, the J2000 coordinates of Zubenelgenubi are α=14h 50.9m, δ=-16° 02’.
Since Jupiter’s opposition occurred earlier this month, the planet is still moving retrograde (i.e., east to west) against the background stars of the constellation Libra. Following its stationary point on 11 July, Jupiter’s motion turns prograde (west to east) and the planet makes a closer brush with Zubenelgenubi on 17 August 2018 when the pair lie 35 arcminutes (almost 0.6 degrees) apart.
In preparation for the imminent arrival of NASA’s Juno spacecraft, astronomers have used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to obtain spectacular new infrared images of Jupiter as part of a campaign to create high-resolution maps of the giant planet. These observations will help astronomers to better understand the gas giant ahead of Juno’s close encounter next month.
Mighty Jupiter, the king of the planets, comes to opposition at 08:00 UT on 14 July, the moment when it lies opposite the Sun in sky at a distance of 619.4 million kilometres (384 million miles), or 4.139 astronomical units.
Early risers in the UK with an unobstructed horizon from southeast through south can see the old crescent Moon close to dazzling Venus in Libra then Jupiter in Ophiuchus over three consecutive mornings starting New Year’s Day around 7am GMT. The brightest and largest planets lie little more than the span of an outstretched hand at arm’s length apart at this time.
