Jupiter Will Be The Brightest It's Been In 59 Years Tonight & You Can See It Across Canada

If you love stargazing and all things space, be sure to look up to the night sky tonight for a chance to see Jupiter clearly with a naked eye in Canada.

On September 26, that fifth planet in the solar system will be the brightest and closest it's been to planet Earth in 59 years.

According to NASA, Jupiter has not been this close to Earth since 1963 and will be visible in tonight's sky because of something called opposition.

This is when a celestial object, like Jupiter, rises from the east as the sun sets in the west — opposing each other.

And while this is a regular occurrence — it happens to Jupiter every 13 months — it will also be unusually close to the Earth due to its orbit not being a perfect circle.

So, this means the planet will be 367 million miles from Earth, as opposed to its furthest distance, which is around 600 million miles.

Tonight, you should be able to see Jupiter with your naked eye, but of course, binoculars and telescopes would make your view of the gas giant all the better.

A bit of magnification is recommended if you want to check out the planet's famous Great Red Spot or even its numerous bands. NASA suggests using a 4-inch or larger telescope with green to blue range filters to really get the best potential view.

Along with Jupiter, several of its large moons, such as Io, Ganymede and Callisto, will be visible as bright dots near the planet. You should be able to spot them with some binoculars or a telescope.

If you run into bad weather tonight, the space organization says that there will likely be a window of a few days for you to get a glimpse of the planet.

To get an idea of where it will be, you can get yourself a night sky mapping app on your phone, which will really help out your stargazing.

So, find yourself a dark, high and clear area and enjoy the astronomical views, Canada!

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.