Planet · Solar System

Jupiter

Above the horizon after darkHighest after dark 05:17 · east · 28°

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Where is Jupiter?

Times for LondonChange city

Look east, about 28° up at 05:17 in Leo. It rises at 02:09 and climbs through the night.

Rises: 02:09
Highest: 09:32
Sets: 16:59
Best after dark: 05:17 · 28°

Can I see Jupiter tonight?

From London tonight, Jupiter is above the horizon after dark. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the east at 28°.

At magnitude −1.9 it is one of the brighter points in the sky, easy to see by eye when it’s clear.

This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.

When is the best time to see Jupiter?

Jupiter is best around opposition, when Earth passes between it and the Sun. Then it rises around sunset, is up all night and is at its brightest.

The next opposition is on February 11, 2027.

What does Jupiter look like?

Eyes

A brilliant, steady cream-white point, usually brighter than any star in the sky.

Binoculars

Held steady, binoculars show a tiny disk with up to four star-like moons lined up beside it.

Telescope

Even a small telescope shows two dark cloud belts. At 100× and above you may see more bands, the Great Red Spot and the shadows of moons crossing the disk.

What you’re likely to see, not what a space telescope photographs.

About Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet, more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. It is a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with no solid surface to stand on.

Its colorful cloud bands are stretched out by the fastest spin of any planet: a day on Jupiter lasts just under 10 hours. The Great Red Spot, a storm larger than Earth, has been watched for well over 150 years.

Jupiter is one of the most rewarding sights in the sky. Even steady binoculars show its four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, the same moons Galileo discovered in 1610. They change position every night as they orbit.

Earth catches up with Jupiter about every 13 months. Around that time, called opposition, Jupiter is up all night and at its brightest, outshining every star.

Jupiter’s gravity has shaped the rest of the Solar System, sculpting the asteroid belt and deflecting many comets. In 1994, fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter and left dark scars that backyard telescopes could see. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has orbited the planet since 2016.

Jupiter’s moons

Moons in SkyMate’s web catalog. Jupiter has more known moons than are listed here.

Questions

Can I see Jupiter’s moons with binoculars?

Yes. Brace the binoculars against something steady and you can usually see up to four points of light in a line beside Jupiter.

Can I see the Great Red Spot?

Sometimes, with a telescope of about 80–100 mm or more, when the spot faces Earth. It has faded and shrunk over the last century, so it is often subtle.

How many moons does Jupiter have?

More than 90 are known, and the count keeps growing as surveys find small, distant ones. Only the four large Galilean moons are visible with ordinary equipment.

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Sources: SkyMate; star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences