Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 8th. The Sun rises at 6:23. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 8:56. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 3:45 tomorrow morning.

At 8:10 p.m. Jupiter will be in opposition, that is opposite the Sun in the sky. Thursday at 8 a.m. it will be its closest to the Earth at 408.9 million miles away, and its biggest in telescopes at 44.8 arc seconds. The Moon averages about 1,800 arc seconds in diameter. So the Moon appears 40 times larger in diameter, meaning you could put 40 Jupiters across the diameter of the moon. Jupiter’s disk is visible in binoculars, along with several of its moons. The moons change position from night to night. Most computer planetarium programs will show the moons for any time past and future. Telescopes will reveal that Jupiter’s face is crossed by bands of contrasting colors of clouds, and the famous Great Red Spot.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Jupiter with its Great Red Spot November 18, 2012 by Scott Anttila.