Conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter
2018 Oct 12
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The Moon and Jupiter will make a close approach, passing within 3°56' of each other.
From London (click to change) however, the pair will not be observable – they will reach their highest point in the sky during daytime and will be no higher than 6° above the horizon at dusk.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -10.1, and Jupiter at mag -1.8, both in the constellation Libra.
The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.
The precise positions of the Moon and Jupiter at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 15h31m30s | -14°15' | Libra | -10.1 | 30'59"0 |
| Jupiter | 15h27m00s | -18°02' | Libra | -1.8 | 31"3 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 35° from the Sun, which is in Virgo at this time of year.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
.