June 10, 2019 - Close Call
Close Call Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, reaches opposition on Monday this week. Like many astronomical events, this one is significant because of our perspective from Earth, not because of any inherent changes of condition on Jupiter. On Monday, Jupiter will be positioned on the opposite side of the Sun as seen from the Earth. This means that the Sun, Earth, and Jupiter line up, with Earth sitting between the Sun and the gas giant. Opposition also marks Jupiter’s closest point to us, and the planet appears brighter in the night sky than at any other time in the year. It will rise at sunset and be visible all night long. During Jupiter’s 2017 opposition, researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope photographed exquisite details in Jupiter’s atmosphere as small as about 129 km (80 mi) across.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (GSFC)
Weekly Calendar
June 10 - 16, 2019
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 10
First Qtr Moon 1:59 AM ET
Jupiter at opposition
1985: Vega 1 deploys lander and balloon on Venus
2003: Mars rover Spirit launched
Tuesday 11
2008: Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope launched
2013: Shenzhou 10 launched, China's fifth human spaceflight mission
Wednesday 12
1967: Venera 4 launched
Thursday 13
1831: James Clerk Maxwell born
1974: National Space Society founded
1983: Pioneer 10 leaves solar system, begins traveling in interstellar space
2010: Hayabusa spacecraft returns first asteroid samples to Earth
2012: NuSTAR X-Ray telescope launched
Friday 14
Flag Day
1967: Mariner 5 launched
1975: Venera 10 launched
1985: Vega 2 deploys lander and balloon on Venus
Saturday 15
Ceres 0.9° south of Moon
1971: First Titan III-D rocket launch
2010: Soyuz TMA-19 launched carrying ISS Expedition 24/25 crew
Sunday 16
Father's Day
Jupiter 2° south of Moon
1963: Vostok 6 launched; Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space, still the only solo spaceflight by a woman
2012: Shenzhou 9 launched, fourth Chinese human space flight