Reply To: Jupiter’s closest opposition since 1963

[John Rogers]

Thanks for researching and posting this analysis. So from your charts (and exact dates that you have sent me), it appears that the recent opposition was the closest for 70 years due to a combination of the 60-year cycle in perihelion distance, and an ~86-year cycle in the time of Jupiter’s apparition in which perihelion occurs. The smallest perihelion distance in the present 60-year cycle was actually in 2010, but this occurred far from opposition (and similarly in 2070). In 2022/23, perihelion distance is about average, but it occurs closer to opposition than average. In 2129, a close perihelion will occur close to opposition, so the distance from Earth will be even less.