As Jupiter approaches Earth at its closest distance in over 60 years, astrophotographers worldwide have superb viewing possibilities. Profiting from the chance, a photographer from Arizona, United States, used his 11-inch telescope to take the finest shot of the gas giant.
Republic World said the photographer, who goes by Andrew McCarthy, disclosed that his image was created by stitching together 600,000 separate shots and claims that it is his most precise image of the globe to date.
IN SPACE - JUNE 13: This artist's conceptual drawing, released June 13, 2002, depicts a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting the star 55 Cancri, about 41 light-years from Earth. A possible moon around the planet is shown because such moons are thought to be common around this type of planet, but no moon has been detected.
Veteran Astrophotographer Ridiculously Captures Jupiter's Beauty
The photograph depicts Jupiter as a dazzling planet rising just after sunset in the Eastern sky. McCarthy said that one might use binoculars to see the planet's four Galilean moons as a brilliant star, visible to the unaided eye.
McCarthy uses software to blend many shots taken during a nocturnal photo session to produce stunning images. He used a similar technique to capture a "ridiculously detailed" photograph of the moon over several months. Jupiter is always an excellent subject for his camera eye, he claimed.
"After shooting around 600,000 photos of it all night, I'm thrilled to show you my sharpest Jupiter shot so far. This was captured using an 11" telescope and a camera I usually use for deep sky work," said McCarthy in a tweet.
"While the number of photos seems like a lot, I was capturing them at about 80 per second, so it went by relatively fast," added McCarthy on Space.com.
The ideal time to see Jupiter appear in our skies if you want to see it yourself is Monday, September 26.
Jupiter in Opposition
When Jupiter makes its closest approach to Earth this year, it will be 59 years distant. It will be the closest to Earth since 1963 at 367 million miles (591 million kilometers).
All of this is the outcome of a fortunate opposition-perihelion convergence.
Jupiter's distance from the Sun, according to ScienceAlert, shrinks to just 740 million kilometers (about 460 million miles) every twelve Earth years, giving those of us in the uptown part of the Solar System a great perspective on how the enormous planet seems larger in the night sky.
The moment when Jupiter will be closest to the Sun, or its perihelion, won't occur until early in the next year. According to ScienceAlert, Earth will be rushing in its perpetual orbit by that time.
But this week, Jupiter makes its yearly closest approach, known as being in opposition. The Sun, Earth, and Jupiter may all be visible in a straight line during this particular time of the year only.
A perfect perihelion and opposition would give us a complete frontal glimpse of Jupiter's bright brilliance. We may be a little early for a perihelion, but the last time Earth came this near to Jupiter-only 590 million kilometers away-was in October 1963.
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