(MEDIA GENERAL) – Just look up! Monday night, you’ll be able to see a beautiful sight if you have clear skies above you. Jupiter and the moon will be the brightest objects in the sky. And, with some basic binoculars, you’ll be able to see even more.
The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, will be pairing up with the moon Monday night. The moon makes a pass by Jupiter, and every planet, at some point each month during its orbit. Monday night, the moon will appear fairly large, called a waxing gibbous moon, and that only happens every few years, according to Jim Lattis, Director of UW Space Place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“But the interest need not be in whether it’s unusual. Rather, it’s a beautiful sight and leads people to look up and think about astronomical things and our place among them,” Lattis said.
After Venus sets, Jupiter and the moon will be the two brightest objects in the sky.Jupiter and the moon will reach the high point in our skies in late evening. With binoculars or a telescope, you’ll even be able to see some of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. They’ll look like little points of light.
