It's a new year and there's plenty to see up in the sky... just don't forget to look down too. During the recent full moon, the light created quite the display on the new fallen snow. "It made the snow sparkle," says Bob King about his experience observing January's Wolf Moon. "It was really a beautiful sight."
Looking ahead, on January 10th, Jupiter will get as close to Earth as it gets; roughly 393 million miles away. The solar system's largest planet is currently in opposition, meaning that the sun, Earth and Jupiter are all in line. "If you look during evening twilight, the sun won't be visible, but you can point that way with one arm and stick out the other arm, and it's going to point toward Jupiter," says Bob King.
And being so "close" to Jupiter, not only is the planet visible as a disc rather than a pinprick of a star, but a keen pair of eyes might also be able to spot one or more of Jupiter's main four moons. For assistance in identifying what moon you're looking at, Bob recommends the app Stellarium.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
