Over the coming days you’ll have a good chance to spot Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky.

October 3, October 4, and October 5, the planets can be seen near the moon in the evening sky. If you look south to southwest on October 3rd, you can see the moon pass very close to the planet Jupiter. Jupiter will look like a very bright star, but a noticeable difference is that this bright object in the sky won’t “twinkle” like other stars will. This is because Jupiter is reflecting light from the sun, whereas the stars in the night sky are emitting that light.

On October 4, the moon will be directly between Jupiter and Saturn in the evening sky. Then on October 5, the moon will be very close to the planet Saturn. This will again look like a very bright star in the night sky, but like Jupiter it won’t “twinkle.” Jupiter will appear a bit brighter than Saturn, due to the fact that it is a much larger planet. Jupiter is roughly the size of 11 earths when comparing the diameter, whereas Saturn is roughly 9 earths.

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When looking for these planets in the night sky, you should be able to easily spot them with the naked eye, but if you are near city lights, it might be a little harder. Best advice for trying to see these planets in the evening sky is to get away from city lights.

The window to easily spot these planets with relation to the moon is pretty narrow. The sun will set at around 7:00pm the next few days, and the moon will only be up until 11:00pm on the third. It sets a little later on October 5, at 12:42am (actually on the sixth).

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