See Incredible Pictures of Jupiter's Closest Approach to Earth in 59 Years
Published Sept. 27 2022, 11:06 a.m. ET
The Great Red Spot, in the region of Jupiter which extends from the equator to the southern polar latitudes, as seen by the space probe Voyager 2 in 1979.
Last night, Jupiter just made its closest approach to Earth in 59 years, resulting in truly impressive views of Jupiter to us here on Earth. People across every corner of our home planet gazed upwards to catch a glimpse of the Gas Giant, and fortunately, many people captured some incredible pictures of Jupiter close to Earth last night, Monday, Sept. 26.
That said, if you missed catching Jupiter in this close opposition with the Earth on Monday, Sept. 26 (it did occur on the same evening as NASA’s DART spacecraft hitting an asteroid on purpose, after all), you’ll have plenty more chances.
Monday, Sept. 26 was the best night to see Jupiter in all its glory, but you should still be able to see Jupiter after sundown every night for the next month, according to The Canberra Times.
Check out these pictures of Jupiter close to Earth last night, Sept. 26:
Perhaps the most impressive image taken of Jupiter on Sept. 26 is actually one taken over the course of several hours last night — combined with about 600,000 other images of the planet from various other nights, all of which were captured by space photographer Andrew McCarthy.
“After staying up all night shooting it, here's my shot of Jupiter at ‘Opposition,’” McCarthy tweeted alongside his final image of Jupiter, in which the planet’s red spot is clearly visible.
He also shared a short video of his telescope’s live view last night, in which you can see “a significant amount of Jupiter's rotation.” Pretty cool!
Astrophotographer Molly Holt shared a few images she took of Jupiter in opposition last night on Instagram, noting that it was her first time tracking the planet.
Another astrophotographer, who goes by @KeystotheCosmos on Twitter, shared a gorgeous “attempt at imaging Jupiter from the backyard,” using the Celestron 8-inch EdgeHD and ZWO ASI462MC Pro camera.
Though using a telescope or binoculars produced more detailed views of Jupiter, many people took advantage of regular phones and cameras to photograph the planet last night.
Photographer @JurneeThroughMyEyes got a pretty clear shot of Jupiter and a few of its moons.
This shot by Twitter user Eleanor Reed shows Jupiter — and seemingly a few of its moons — from Newcastle, England.
Twitterer @shamal3amri shared side-by-side shots of people looking at a bright dot in the sky that is Jupiter and a close-up of Jupiter, with some details apparent.
Even though Jupiter is still hundreds of thousands of miles away from us on Earth, the Gas Giant never felt closer than it did last night. Make sure to look out for the planet at some point over the next few weeks, because Jupiter won't be in opposition again for about 13 months.