Moon To Pass By Jupiter Tonight

It’s been a busy week for stargazers. There was the asteroid flyby, the meteor collision, that mysterious light over California and tonight they’ll be able to watch the moon passing by Jupiter.

According to Universe Today, the moon has had several visual close encounters with Jupiter since Thanksgiving. Tonight the moon will be passing in front of Jupiter.

The event is called an occultation, which simply means that one celestial body will move in front of another. Unfortunately, people in North America won’t be able to see the occultation tonight.

Space.com reports that the moon will be below the horizon when it passes by Jupiter. Observers in North America will be able to see the moon approach Jupiter tonight, and on Monday, they’ll be able to watch as the moon moves away from the planet.

Space.com writes:

“At mid-twilight, roughly 45 minutes after sunset, look high in the south, more than two-thirds of the way up from the horizon to the point directly overhead (the zenith) and — weather permitting — you’ll see the moon and hovering about 6 degrees above and to its left will be brilliant Jupiter.”

Here’s a video of the moon passing by Jupiter on Christmas day, 2012.