GALLERY The Moon And Jupiter Rise Together

Edited byMark Dunphy

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Jupiter and the Moon rose together on Thursday evening providing a spectacular sight in the eastern skies.

Ian Carruthers from Finglas in County Dublin captured the above and below images.

According to Astronomy Ireland’s David Moore: “Jupiter comes close to Earth every year and once or twice the Full Moon will be near Jupiter each time. In fact last night’s scene was very similar to the view people will have again on November 9th”.

“Jupiter is the largest planet going around the Sun. At 88,000 miles wide it is 11 times wider than the Earth. The Moon is tiny in comparison, only 2,160 miles wide, that’s 40 times less than Jupiter and one quarter as wide as Earth. However, the Moon is much closer at just one quarter of a million miles away whereas Jupiter is 370 million miles away.”

“So it’s really only a line of sight effect as Jupiter is 1500 times further away than the Moon. The hottest spots on the Moon are at about 100 degrees Celsius but on Jupiter, which is 5 times further from the Sun, the temperature is only minus 130 degrees Celsius”, added Mr. Moore.

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