Occultation and opposition are two terms to know in our astronomical vocabulary for the end of November and start of December.
Occultation is when the moon passes in front of a star or a planet. Tomorrow at 4:30am, the crescent moon will be passing over the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, Spica. Then, at exactly 5:35am, you can watch the moon (with or without binoculars) unveil Spica in the blink of an eye.
If you face east around 7pm in the coming days, you will notice one particular planet burning strikingly bright. That planet is Jupiter, and it appears so bright because it will be in opposition with Earth on December 7th. This means Earth will line up perfectly between the sun and Jupiter, bringing us as close to the gas giant as we will get this year.
And by close, that means 380 million miles away... or 34 light-minutes.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
