Jupiter late-night transit

Event Date: November 15th

Time: 1:18(.37) AM

Brief

   Yesterday evening, I showed Jupiter on the rise.  Now, just hours not long after midnight, Jupiter is seen high in the sky, at transit.  Notice how I have shown the planets transiting often and naturally, happening an average of 4 minutes earlier daily; I say "average" to take into account the variable rates of prograde and retrograde.  In any case, I showed some of them--mainly the far outer planets-- transiting during civil twilight earlier this year and now with Jupiter, the time above.  As we get a little closer to opposition, the planet's transit time gets even closer to the midnight hour.  Until then, take note of Jupiter's altitude as shown below, and I will mention more of that to follow.

click on image to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   The celestial equator shows above, to indicate the good northern declination of 21.6º.  Jupiter's declination has decreased a little as a result of retrograde, yet early next year, will resume prograde motion to reach its highest point on the celestial dome, not far east of where it is now.  It will part ways with the Hyades, which it is still slowly approaching between now and about the day of opposition, moving towards Gemini.  Of course, western Gemini, not far from the Taurus border, is where the Sun is at the June solstice.  With Jupiter's orbit putting it a little less than a degree south of the ecliptic (not shown) now, while only slowly approaching ascending node, it will not be quite as north as the solstice Sun by mid-next year, yet not noticeably different.  The best part of course, is that it will be high enough out of atmospheric pollution to see the contrast between the (light) zones and (darker) belts, while possibly having the Great Red Spot visible: a huge storm, the surface area of about 5 Earths!  Whether it be its features or its 4 Galilean Moons, Jupiter is a fun sight to see in a telescope.  Don't have one?  Enjoy its brightness among many other stars seen easily in that part of the sky!