YOU’RE IN FOR A SHOW THIS WEEK STAR NERDS!
I’M TRACE AND THIS WEEK BOTH JUPITER AND
SATURN WILL BE IN OPPOSITION.
OPPOSITION IS ASTRONOMY-SPEAK FOR THE EARTH
PASSING DIRECTLY BETWEEN AN OUTER PLANET AND
THE SUN -- PUT ANOTHER WAY, IF YOU DRAW A
LINE FROM JUPITER TO THE SUN, WE FALL RIGHT
IN-BETWEEN.  PLANETS IN OPPOSITION ARE AT
THEIR CLOSEST TO US AND THEIR BRIGHTEST.
TO FIND JUPITER LOOK SOUTH AROUND ELEVEN
PM THIS WEEK AND YOU’LL SEE TWO BRIGHT SPOTS,
THE BRIGHTER IS JUPITER. AT OPPOSITION IT
WILL BE SIX-HUNDRED FORTY ONE MILLION KILOMETERS
AWAY, AND BRIGHT AS CAN BE. IF YOU’VE GOT
STRONG BINOCULARS YOU’LL GET QUITE THE SHOW!
SATURN WILL BE BRIGHT TOO, BUT it DOESN’T
OFFICIALLY REACH OPPOSITION UNTIL JULY 20.
EVEN LOOKING AT OUR LARGEST PLANETS WITH THE
SMALLEST TELESCOPE WILL BLOW YOU AWAY. KEEP
LOOKING UP!
