Jupiter Closest, Brightest, Biggest now - spot it till Oct 2017

On 8th April 2017 (as per Indian Standard Time) one of the exciting celestial events of the year “Jupiter Opposition with Sun” will occur. Because of which Planet Jupiter (Bruhaspati/Guru in Hindi/Telugu) will be closest to Earth on 9th April 2017 now than in any part of 2017. 

Click on pic&Zoom for more details. On how to watch, till when Jupiter can be seen and How to Spot. 

Generally the minimum distance of Jupiter from earth is 588 Million kilometers approx. Whereas the Maximum distance is 967 Million km approx. On the 9th April 2017 Jupiter will reach closest point at 4.455 AU or 666 million km which is very close to its min. distance from earth.

So What is Opposition? A planet (during course of its journey around sun) is said to be at opposition when it is directly opposite the Sun from our viewpoint on Earth. The result is that the planet is fully illuminated by the Sun and appears disk-like. Importantly during opposition the planet in question would be at its closest approach and thus would appear more big and brighter than usual. At this point Sun-Earth- Planet would be in a straight line opposite to each other. Though planet is at opposition for only one day, nevertheless for visual purposes it is almost as good for viewing for a couple of weeks to a Month before and after opposition. 

Jupiter oppositions occur every 13 months. The last opposition of Jupiter occurred on 8th March 2016 and next would be on 9th May 2018.