This month’s planets
The great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter will be a sight to behold in Sagittarius and Capricornus this month
Planet of the month
Our ‘Planet of the Month’ this issue is mighty Jupiter, not because it is particularly bright but because there will be so much going on around it this month. During December this enormous gas giant planet will have a stunning and exceptionally rare close encounter with its ringed neighbour, Saturn, and will be joined in the twilight by a beautiful crescent Moon, too.
Jupiter will be easily visible to the naked eye this month, looking like a bright blue-white star low in the southwest after sunset. Shining at magnitude -2.0, Jupiter would be strikingly bright in a darker sky, but it will be fighting the twilight and will set only a couple of hours after the Sun, so you won’t have long to see it. Through a pair of binoculars Jupiter will appear much brighter, and you’ll see some of its extended family of more than 80 moons. A telescope with higher magnification will show you the planet’s cloud bands and the Great Red Spot, a storm the size of Earth that has been raging in Jupiter’s atmosphere for centuries.