With Jupiter approaching Earth for one of the closest encounters in decades, telescopes around the world are turning toward the giant planet. Here is the view from Mt. Wilson on Sept. 18th:

Image
© Alan Friedman
The bright light in the sky is Jupiter. The blue-white scaffolding is the exoskeleton of the historic 60-inch telescope, the largest telescope in the world available for public viewing.

Astrophotographer Alan Friedman was at the controls.

"I took this picture of Jupiter," says Friedman. "Mt. Wilson is a magical location where so much of modern astronomy history was written. I spent three nights observing on the 60-inch and the 16-inch--a truly magical adventure!"

Fortunately, you don't need a famous behemoth telescope for a good view of Jupiter this week. The giant planet won't be this close again until 2022, and it looks great in amateur telescopes. Point your optics toward the bright "star" in the midnight sky for an eyeful of Jupiter's moons, cloud belts and swirling storms. Science@NASA has the full story.