On Thursday July 6^th the position of the planet Jupiter with respect to the Earth and the Sun places the solar system’s largest planet at an orbital position called eastern quadrature. Jupiter is at a 90 degree angle from the Earth as this graphic shows. Think first quarter Moon as that is a fair comparison of the relative positions. At this position Jupiter follows the Sun across the sky from east to west as the Earth is rotating, meaning that Jupiter rises after the Sun and consequently sets after the Sun.

   Where is Jupiter now? This graphic shows the sky at 10 pm CDT to include Jupiter high above the southwestern horizon and east from Leo the Lion and its bright star Regulus. Saturn is further east within a few degrees from the waxing gibbous Moon.

   This is a short 6-7 minute video I made as part of a live musical performance called “Orbit” that was performed at the Gottleib Planetarium in Kansas City Missouri in May 2011. This is a piece from the much longer tour of the solar system performance and video and shows Jupiter, Saturn and some of their moons as viewed from the Cassini spacecraft.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for more observing information for this month.