Country diary: Look up! Tonight’s the night to see Jupiter at its brightest | Jupiter

AA must-see New Year’s fireworks display, the Wolf Moon dominated the sky during the first nights of January, casting an unearthly radiance over everything, the night almost as bright as the day. Now, as this moon wanes, prepare to be seduced by a true planetary star: Jupiter.

Named after the king of the sky gods in Roman mythology, Jupiter rises each evening in the east, unmatched by any star except Sirius. Tonight, however, it will be at its peak and brightest, having reached “opposition,” meaning that on Earth we are directly between Jupiter and the sun. If you’ve never tried stargazing before, tonight’s the time to start.

Jupiter is truly a celestial titan. Its volume is equal to 1,300 Earths, with an atmosphere 1,000 km thick, below which is a sea of ​​liquid hydrogen 20,000 km deep. It rotates much faster than Earth, with a Jovian day lasting less than 10 hours. Such movement fuels immense turbulence in its atmosphere, with wind speeds of nearly 900 mph producing distinct bands of color and vast, long-lasting storms such as the Great Red Spot, which is three times the diameter of Earth and visible through binoculars.

The binoculars also reveal Jupiter’s four largest moons – Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io – named after the lovers of the Greek god Zeus and first observed by Galileo in 1610. Io is about the size of Earth’s moon and is considered the most volcanically active body in the solar system, constantly turning over, spewing lava from countless volcanoes.

Jupiter’s backdrop includes Castor and Pollux – the celestial Argonauts of Greek mythology and the main stars of the Gemini constellation. Together they form (from our perspective on Earth) a pleasantly close configuration, but they are separated by light years of space.

Closer to home, the Wolf Moon silently tugs at Earth and Earth recedes, keeping our sculpted satellite in orbit while generating spring tides that circle the globe. All the actors in the night sky perform a distant dance under the command of gravity. No orb is an island. No body or movement is without consequences.

From atom to star, the universe is defined by invisible forces of nature, and on a clear winter night, there is no better sight.