Jupiter this month

Jupiter is in the morning sky, 69° west of the Sun: look before dawn. It shines at magnitude −2.0 in Leo.

Magnitude: −2.0
Constellation: Leo
From the Sun: 69° west
Distance: 5.59 AU (836 million km)
Apparent size: 34.5″
Position: RA 9h 44m, Dec +14.3°

Jupiter with its cream and rust cloud bands and the Great Red Spot. NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (NASA Goddard); edited by PlanetUser, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rise and set today in six cities

City	Sunset	Jupiter rises	Jupiter sets	Sunrise
London	16:44	00:08	14:43	06:43
New York	17:59	01:28	15:13	07:19
Los Angeles	18:05	01:36	14:59	07:07
Singapore	18:50	02:28	14:34	06:46
Sydney	19:17	02:59	13:45	06:01
Cape Town	19:09	02:49	13:34	05:52

Local times on 26 October 2026. A planet that rises before sunset and sets after it is up in the evening; one that rises in the small hours is a morning object.

The year ahead

Angular distance from the Sun as seen from Earth. Inside the shaded band (15°) a planet is lost in twilight.

Coming events

Opposition: 11 February 2027, 00:28 UTC (opposite the Sun: up all night, closest and brightest)
Conjunction: 31 August 2027, 07:29 UTC (behind the Sun, not visible)
Opposition: 12 March 2028, 15:36 UTC (opposite the Sun: up all night, closest and brightest)
Conjunction: 30 September 2028, 12:50 UTC (behind the Sun, not visible)
Opposition: 12 April 2029, 04:04 UTC (opposite the Sun: up all night, closest and brightest)
Conjunction: 30 October 2029, 23:57 UTC (behind the Sun, not visible)

Close approaches

2 November 2026: the Moon and Jupiter 0.5° apart
16 November 2026: Mars and Jupiter 1.2° apart
30 November 2026: the Moon and Jupiter 1.1° apart
27 December 2026: the Moon and Jupiter 1.4° apart
23 January 2027: the Moon and Jupiter 1.4° apart
20 February 2027: the Moon and Jupiter 1.1° apart
19 March 2027: the Moon and Jupiter 0.9° apart
15 April 2027: the Moon and Jupiter 0.9° apart

Seeing Jupiter

Jupiter is a brilliant, steady cream-white light, usually outshone only by Venus and the Moon. It spends about a year in each constellation of the zodiac. Even ordinary binoculars held steady show up to four of its largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, as tiny points in a line beside the planet, changing position from night to night.