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Night sky lovers expect a surprise these days. More than ever, the planet Jupiter shines in the sky. This is because it is the closest it has been to Earth in 59 years.
Jupiter, the fifth planet in the Solar System, shines particularly brightly in the sky these days. You can see it all night. “There is nothing brighter except the Moon, if it were in the sky, and it is easy to recognize planets from stars, because the planets actually shine with a constant light,” said astrologer Petr Zelený.
On Tuesday, around four in the morning, Jupiter will be only 591 million kilometers from Earth. The last time he was this close was 59 years ago. “You can already see the moons on Jupiter with normal binoculars that magnify 10 or 15 times, they are probably the most obvious, but when the telescope has a larger diameter, you can already see such cloud bands on the surface,” said Ivan Havlíček from the Astronomical Society of Zlín.
Those who want to see even more can go to the Observatory. They rely on nighttime observation of the planets there. “Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, it is a so-called gas giant and 12 globes could be within the diameter of Jupiter,” Zelený pointed out.
The moons that orbit Jupiter are special. There are almost 80 of them. The one called Europe has attracted the most attention. The Clipper probe is expected to be launched in two years. Scientists are drawn to the ice sheet on the surface.
“Below it, there is an ocean tens of kilometers deep with salt water. And it is assumed that there may be primitive life,” Zelený said. Jupiter was known to our ancestors since ancient times. But the turning point in his observation took place only in the seventeenth century. “Its history is memorable for the discovery of the four moons that Galileo observed for the first time. And it was such a turning point in cosmography,” Zelený described. Those who lack observation of this giant planet these days will have the opportunity to make amends in 107 long years, that is, in 2129.
kdu, TN.cz
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