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Ephemeris: 12/05/2024 – More about Jupiter: it’s very gassy

December 5, 2024

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, December 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:14 this evening.

The planet Jupiter rules over the night sky with the Moon after Venus sets. Jupiter, 11 times the diameter of the Earth, has the volume of 1300 earths, however it is only 318 times the mass of the Earth. It is made-up mostly of hydrogen and helium, so it is called a gas giant planet, rather than a terrestrial or rocky planet like the Earth. Jupiter is the best viewable of the planets in a small telescope. It has 2 dark bands across it called belts of darker appearing clouds. The famed Great Red Spot is an anticyclone embedded in the southern of those belts. The spot is not as red anymore. I remember it being brick-red back in the late 1950s and early 60s. Jupiter spins very rapidly, its day lasts only 10 hours.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Jupiter by Scott Anttila November 14, 2011
Jupiter by Scott Anttila November 14, 2011. With shadow on the planet and the Great Red Spot.
Matching Scott Anttila's Jupiter image from above with a Cartes du Ciel (sky charts) simulation taken back to that date
Matching Scott Anttila’s Jupiter image from above with a Cartes du Ciel (sky charts) simulation taken back to that date. I did it mainly to identify the moons. It also simulated the shadow of Ganymede on the planet. The red spot has moved in longitude since it was portrayed in the simulation. The Red Spot slowly moves in longitude. The Great Red Spot in Anttila’s image is just above the shadow, and isn’t as great and red as the simulated image, which I suspect is a product of one of the Voyager spacecraft’s time lapse movie on approach to Jupiter in the late 1970s, in which the feature contrast and color were enhanced.
The nomenclature of Jupiter's cloud features
The nomenclature of Jupiter’s cloud features. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Credit: The Planetary Society.
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