Scots captured some incredible pictures of Jupiter after the planet appeared in its best view for 59 years last night. Jupiter made its closest approach to Earth since 1963 on Monday, September 26, according to NASA.
The largest planet in our solar system was in opposition, meaning the Earth was positioned directly between the Gas Giant and the Sun. That gave stargazers across the country the perfect opportunity to witness Jupiter - and some of its moons - clearly for the first time, and the resulting pictures were spectacular.
Kenneth Mckenzie, from Bathgate, captured some clear images of the planet on his new iPhone. The 39-year-old took his young son son out past his bedtime so they could witness the historic solar sight.
Kenneth told the Record: "We were in the Bathgate Hills, my little boy Finlay had been so excited to go see it and thought it was a perfect spot to get a great view across the sky and the area. It was a bit past his bedtime at around 9.30pm - but it’s just one of those things you want to see!
"I actually used my new iPhone 14 Pro Max to take the pictures and then cleaned up using some of my software. I was really surprised how good it came out."
NASA has previously announced that there would only be about 367 million miles between Earth and Jupiter on Monday. The massive planet is normally about 600 million miles away from us at its farthest point.
Jupiter is at opposition about every 13 months, the length of time the Earth takes to orbit the Sun in relation to Jupiter, according to EarthSky. However, neither Earth nor Jupiter orbits the sun in a perfect circle, which is what makes each opposition a slightly different distance - and Monday night was the best time to spot the planet since 1963.
Ewelina Schmidt-Sienko captured some more brilliant pictures on her Samsung S22 in Helensburgh. In Ewelina's snaps, which were taken through a telescope, Jupiter's four main moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto - were visible.
Meanwhile A-Jay Gower took pictures of the planet from Glasgow while Dylan Flanagan saw the planet from East Kilbride.
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