Tonight on Feb. 17, the moon will sail past Jupiter in the sky and on Monday. Space.com reported that "each month since November, as seen from North America, the moon and Jupiter have engaged in a series of conjunctions." Feb. 17 is the ideal time to see moon pass by the bright planet of Jupiter. The last time the moon appeared to be close to Jupiter was on Jan. 21.
"It is a much different story in February, however. The moon will make its closest approach to Jupiter on Monday morning (Feb. 18) at 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT/4 a.m. PST). Unfortunately, both the moon and Jupiter will be below the horizon for North America, which means the best observers here can do is see the moon as it approaches Jupiter on this evening, and then follow up Monday night as the moon recedes from Jupiter," reported Space.com.
The moon will come less than 450 million miles from the earth said the Post Bulletin tonight. The first quarter moon will appear on the lower right of Jupiter early evening on Feb. 17 while on Monday the moon will appear on jupiter's left. Space.com reported that the moon will pass closest to Jupiter on Monday morning at 7 a.m. ET.
Space.com reported that tonight the moon will be past first quarter phase and about 45 minutes after sunset viewers will be ble to see the moon and about 6 degrees above it to the left, Jupiter. On Monday night, the moon will be in a gibbous phase and moved to a place that is 6 degrees left of Jupiter.
Tonight is an ideal time for amateur stargazers to use their telescopes and see Jupiter and the moon.
"If your scope is big enough and the atmospheric conditions clear enough, you may be able to see the shadow of a moon passing in front of Jupiter," writes Mike Lynch for TwinCities.
"Jupiter is still the brightest "star" in the night sky and the first to come out at dusk, high in the south. It is more than two and a half times the brightness of Sirius - the brightest star in the night sky - which in early evening sparkles in the southeast 60 degrees to Jupiter's lower left. Note how Jupiter shines with a steady silvery glow while Sirius scintillates with a bluish-white glow, as if struggling to try and match Jupiter's brilliance," reported Space.com
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