- Southern Hemisphere Sky Events

See Jupiter’s Great Red Spot for yourself! Sunday 8 April 2018

(Posted 7 April 2018) Inspired by the stunning images sent back by NASA’s Juno orbiter spacecraft of the Great Red Spot to dust off your telescope?

Above: A montage of three images merged and adjusted by Seán Doran sent back by NASA’s Juno orbiter. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot dominates the image. Image credits: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Seán Doran. Photo is CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Unfortunately, Earth bound observers can’t enjoy this exact stunning view. Well, fortunately actually, as passing this close to Jupiter’s intense radiation belts would result in your unpleasant death courtesy of said radiation.

Jupiter with location of Great Red Spot shown. Chart for 8.44 pm AEST on 8 April 2018. Chart prepared using the highly recommended Sky Safari 5 Plus app. Used with permission.

To find Jupiter prior to the transit, just look low above the Eastern horizon for a really bright star. Rise and set times for planets for various Australian locations are available on this site.

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