Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, located fifth from the sun. It has a diameter of 139,822 kilometers and a mass of 1.898 x 10^27 kilograms, making it more than twice as massive as all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter is a gas giant planet composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a small rocky core at its center. The planet has a banded appearance, with swirling cloud formations and a famous Great Red Spot, a persistent high-pressure storm in the planet's atmosphere that is larger than the size of Earth. Jupiter has a rapid rotation, with a day length of 9.9 hours, and it orbits the sun once every 11.86 Earth years. The planet has 79 known moons, including four large Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Jupiter has been explored by multiple spacecraft, including the Galileo mission and NASA's Juno mission, which is currently in orbit around the planet.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of Jupiter in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Jupiter
Jupiter is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Jupiter in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Jupiter against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Galilean Moons
This image shows the position of Jupiter's four major moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (if one or more moons are not visible in the image, it is because they are currently being occulted by Jupiter). For more advanced features, see the page dedicated to theGalilean Moons page.
Jupiter's four moons are often subject to transits, eclipses, or occultations. The following list provides information on the next 5 upcoming events:
| Date | Local Time | Satellite | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17 2025 | 13:38 | Io | Begin Eclipse |
| Jul 17 2025 | 16:17 | Io | End Occultation |
| Jul 18 2025 | 01:50 | Europa | Begin Shadow Transit |
| Jul 18 2025 | 02:38 | Europa | Begin Transit |
| Jul 18 2025 | 04:32 | Europa | End Shadow Transit |
To see the complete list of the upcoming phenomena for the next 7 days consult the dedicated Jupiter's Galilean Moons section.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Jupiter from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Jupiter from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of Jupiter from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Jupiter from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of Jupiter to Earth will happen on Tuesday 16 October 2485 at a distance of 3.943792 Astronomical Units, or 589,982,961 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of Jupiter, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of Jupiter.
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 139822 km | 10.9733 |
| Mass | 1898.13 x 1024 kg | 317.8281 |
| Density | 1.3262 gr/cm3 | 0.2405 |
| Escape Velocity | 60.2 km/s | 5.3798 |
| Sideral Rotation | 9.9250 hours | 0.4147 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -9.4 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.52 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Jupiter computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10 2025 | 06h 29m 51s | +23° 08’ 33” | -1.89 | 31.4” | Gemini |
| Jul 11 2025 | 06h 30m 50s | +23° 07’ 55” | -1.89 | 31.4” | Gemini |
| Jul 12 2025 | 06h 31m 49s | +23° 07’ 17” | -1.89 | 31.4” | Gemini |
| Jul 13 2025 | 06h 32m 48s | +23° 06’ 37” | -1.90 | 31.4” | Gemini |
| Jul 14 2025 | 06h 33m 46s | +23° 05’ 57” | -1.90 | 31.5” | Gemini |
| Jul 15 2025 | 06h 34m 43s | +23° 05’ 15” | -1.90 | 31.5” | Gemini |
| Jul 16 2025 | 06h 35m 42s | +23° 04’ 31” | -1.90 | 31.5” | Gemini |
| Jul 17 2025 | 06h 36m 40s | +23° 03’ 46” | -1.90 | 31.5” | Gemini |
| Jul 18 2025 | 06h 37m 38s | +23° 03’ 00” | -1.90 | 31.5” | Gemini |
| Jul 19 2025 | 06h 38m 36s | +23° 02’ 13” | -1.90 | 31.6” | Gemini |
| Jul 20 2025 | 06h 39m 34s | +23° 01’ 24” | -1.90 | 31.6” | Gemini |
| Jul 21 2025 | 06h 40m 31s | +23° 00’ 35” | -1.90 | 31.6” | Gemini |
| Jul 22 2025 | 06h 41m 29s | +22° 59’ 44” | -1.90 | 31.6” | Gemini |
| Jul 23 2025 | 06h 42m 26s | +22° 58’ 53” | -1.90 | 31.7” | Gemini |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Jupiter: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Jupiter's Galilean Moons: Position in real time or at any date and time.
- Where is Jupiter?: Key information on where to find Jupiter in the sky.
- Distance of Jupiter from Earth: Find out how far Jupiter is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is Jupiter?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of Jupiter from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Jupiter's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Jupiter's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Jupiter's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of Jupiter.