Now is the time to see the giant planet Jupiter: Astronomers say this is the best time to see Jupiter in half a century.  Also, as one of Jupiter’s large bands of clouds has temporarily disappeared, this is an opportune time to see the famous Great Red Spot.

You can easily spot Jupiter with your naked eye.  Starting in mid-September, just go outside and face east around 10 pm. You can’t miss it: The very brightest point of light you see shining in the east is the planet Jupiter.

Take a look through your telescope at this giant planet.   If you’re lucky, you’ll see the Great Red Spot — although it won’t appear bright red.  When the Great Red Spot was discovered over 100 years ago, it was brick red.  But since then it has faded in color, and is now pale brown, or tan.  Often the Great Red Spot blends in with the surrounding brown clouds on Jupiter.  But as those nearby clouds have temporarily disappeared, this is a great time to find the Great Red Spot against a bright white background!  If you don’t see the Great Red Spot, try again the following evening — or even over the course of a few evenings.  It takes about 10 hours for the Great Red Spot to circuit Jupiter.  Or visit this Web site that will tell you when the Great Red Spot will be visible from your part of the world.

If you’re away from city lights and have a good telescope or a good pair of binoculars, you may even see the planet Uranus near Jupiter.  It will appear as a pale green dot nearby.  Toward the beginning of September, look slightly above, and to the right of Jupiter.  By mid-September, look slightly above Jupiter.  Toward the end of the month, look just to the left of Jupiter.

Venus and Mars are also visible in September: Venus is low on the western horizon around sunset and is a very bright object.  Mars will be just to the north of Venus.  Both of these planets will set shortly after sunset, especially toward the end of the month.  If you have a very clear view of the western horizon, you might also get one last glimpse of Saturn, down and toward the north of Venus and Mars.

Finding your star in the night sky.

Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky. Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations. Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation.

You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. (That’s why we include the SLOOH online telescope experience in our Deluxe, Framed and Ultimate Gift Sets!) But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope.

You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.