Jupiter From Earth

In 2015, we started going to the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bangalore regularly. We found out about a lecture that takes place at the planetarium on the first Sunday of every month.  The lecture titled “Know Your Stars” is aimed at helping people get acquainted with the night sky of that particular month.

It was then that we fell in love with Jupiter.

Observing Jupiter from Earth

Jupiter is one of the planets that can be seen from earth with the naked eyes. It is in fact visible almost all throughout the year, except when it appears too close to the sun. As soon as the night sky falls, you can see Jupiter like a bright spot in the sky. You would know it is Jupiter and not a bright star because it will not twinkle and would just appear like a steady dot of light.

You might not be interested in stargazing, but let me assure you, there is a certain kick to it. Not to mention, the whole experience is dreamy as well.  You just have to learn how to study the night sky; for which you don’t have to spend a lot of time, just the basics. Then head over to a suburban place where you can avoid light pollution, lie on your back and get blown away.

There’s another way which is slightly easier. There are plenty of apps for sky viewing and you can download one on your phone. I use SkyView for the same. Now just visit a place away from light pollution, open your app, and the app will guide you about everything in the sky.

Love for Jupiter

Coming back to our falling in love with Jupiter; on multiple occasions after the “Know Your Stars” lecture, we were allowed to observe Jupiter, Venus, Moon and Sirius using planetarium’s telescope. On one such day, we observed the planet from planetarium’s most powerful telescope and it was then that we clearly saw Jupiter’s dark and light stripes and the large Great Red Spot. That was a sight in itself, till I realized there were some dots floating around Jupiter. They were the four Galilean moons of the planet. The image is etched in my mind forever. The experience was so surreal and at moment I felt as if Jupiter is right there, right in front of me.

#summerwithYellowMellowLife #26daysofYellowMellowLife #atozchallenge #yellowmellowlife #summerthingstodo