{"id":863,"date":"2026-04-22T07:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T07:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/?p=863"},"modified":"2026-04-22T07:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T07:59:00","slug":"the-moon-and-jupiter-steal-the-show-after-sunset-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/?p=863","title":{"rendered":"The Moon and Jupiter steal the show after sunset tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-424a8049-572a-4aed-b62d-1fb8193ad07d\">If the skies are reasonably clear Wednesday evening (April 22), you can end your day by stepping outside and enjoying the view of the rendezvous of two of the brightest objects in the night sky. <u>month<\/u> and the planet <u>Jupiter.<\/u> About 45 minutes after the sun sets, these two striking objects will be visible in the western sky, about two-thirds of the way from the horizon to directly overhead (called the zenith).<\/p>\n<p>Moon one day away from reaching first quarter stage \u2014 38% illuminated <u>solar<\/u> \u2014 located to the upper right of Jupiter, about 3 degrees away.<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-424a8049-572a-4aed-b62d-1fb8193ad07d-2\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">To measure the width of 3 degrees, make a fist with your arm extended and it will measure approximately 10 degrees. This means that Jupiter and the Moon will appear approximately &#8220;one-third of a fist&#8221; apart.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><\/p>\n<p>            you may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"elk-12c093f5-7771-4ce6-b144-5b12618aa93f\">Even without the moon, only Jupiter immediately attracts attention. Now, after Venus has set, it is the brightest &#8220;star&#8221; while it is above the horizon (it currently sets around 1:35 a.m. local daylight savings time) and is first visible high in the western sky during the early stages of twilight. Jupiter, approx. <u>size<\/u> -2.1, surpassing all of the night sky. <u>Venus<\/u> And the moon. As dusk fades, bright winter stars soon join this part of the sky. These stars begin to appear out of season as spring nights get warmer.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"teaming-up-with-the-gemini-twins-3\">Team up with the Gemini Twins<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-037f1fa5-188d-4e71-8cf5-164682b02bf0\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1920px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jw58vwpzphj34Sx2bZispc-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">Approximate positions of the Moon, Jupiter, Pollux and Castor on April 22nd. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Created with Canva Pro)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-3a74ff0d-b494-44ac-b59b-db9314bbdcb3\">Due to its proximity to the Moon and Jupiter, the most noticeable feature is the yellowish part. <u>Pollux<\/u> and white <u>caster<\/u>which marks the head of the Twins in Gemini, located about 9 degrees above Jupiter and about 6.5 degrees above the Moon. In his classic zodiac guide, <u>Stars \u2014 a new way to see stars<\/u>author HA Rey writes, &#8220;If the moon and planets are near Castor and Pollux, an impressive show is seen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b81b08eb-c500-4d87-96c2-713e1916608e\">And indeed, this collection of the Moon, Jupiter, Castor, and Pollux in the Wednesday evening sky will be quite eye-catching.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"striking-views-through-telescopes-3\">Impressive views seen through a telescope<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-d7721530-981c-443b-ab92-c84f1e861cc8\">Jupiter is the biggest attraction with a telescope. Best observed in the early evening when the altitude is still high and the images are reasonably calm. It&#8217;s still a great big belted ball that shows glimpses of fascinating detail. Granted, it only looks 3\/4 the size of the opposition in early January, but don&#8217;t let that stop you. The way we view the atmosphere, which changes from minute to minute, often determines what we see on Jupiter through a telescope more than Jupiter&#8217;s apparent size. And those four bright moons are constantly performing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-KwskMQ6SkaRKxp8jpPyshC\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-KwskMQ6SkaRKxp8jpPyshC slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Breaking the latest in space news, rocket launches, skywatching events, and more.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In fact, if you look at Jupiter through a small telescope or well-held binoculars on Wednesday evening, you&#8217;ll see three of its four moons. Io is the closest planet to Jupiter, but it&#8217;s more distant and flanks larger planets. <u>callisto<\/u> (same side as Io) and <u>Ganymede<\/u>. Please watch with keen eyes <u>Io<\/u>However, it will disappear behind Jupiter at 10:39 PM ET. At 11:36 pm EDT, Europa will emerge from the eclipse from behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n<p>So on Wednesday, while you enjoy views of Jupiter near our moons, remember that up to four more moons are available with just a little optical assistance. Although they look like small stars, two of them are larger than our moon and can actually be seen changing their positions with respect to each other hourly and nightly.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking for a telescope or binoculars to observe the night sky, check out our guide. <u>best binoculars sale<\/u> and <u>best telescope deals<\/u><u> <\/u>I can help.<\/p>\n<p><em>Joe Rao is an instructor and guest lecturer at New York University. <\/em><u><em>Hayden Planetarium<\/em><\/u><em>. he writes about astronomy <\/em><u><em>natural history magazine<\/em><\/u><em>, <\/em><u><em>sky and telescope<\/em><\/u>, <u><em>old farmer&#8217;s almanac <\/em><\/u><em>and other publications.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Moon #Jupiter #steal #show #sunset #tonight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the skies are reasonably clear Wednesday evening (April 22), you can end your day by stepping outside and enjoying the view of the rendezvous of two of the brightest objects in the night sky. month and the planet Jupiter. About 45 minutes after the sun sets, these two striking objects will be visible in &#8230; <a title=\"The Moon and Jupiter steal the show after sunset tonight\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/?p=863\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Moon and Jupiter steal the show after sunset tonight\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1161,558,2024,2074,1922,669],"class_list":["post-863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-jupiter","tag-moon","tag-show","tag-steal","tag-sunset","tag-tonight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}