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4h ago

Last Quarter Moon Draws Close to Jupiter Overnight in Easy Sky Show

Expect the sharpest views after about 2:30 a.m. local time at higher altitude.

Last Quarter Moon occurs this afternoon; our satellite rises around local midnight, close to the gas giant Jupiter. Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Overview

  • The Moon and Jupiter rise from the east-northeastern horizon around 11:30 p.m. to midnight local time on Oct. 13 and remain visible into the early morning.
  • Their apparent separation will be roughly 4° to 6°, making a clear naked-eye pairing suitable for casual viewing and photos.
  • Jupiter shines around magnitude –2.2, outshining nearby stars in Gemini including Pollux and Castor.
  • Through binoculars or a small telescope before dawn, observers can see Jupiter’s cloud bands, the Great Red Spot, and a lineup with Callisto, Europa, and Io on one side and Ganymede on the other.
  • The close pairing is only a line-of-sight effect, with the Moon about 235,000 miles from Earth and Jupiter roughly 477 million miles away.