Jupiter can actually be viewed at night during clear sky from earth close to the borders of the oceanic frontiers where the reflection of ocean at times may be greenish or sky blue.

You can find Jupiter nestled among the stars of the constellation of Gemini the Twins, sporting a bright, the glowing sunlight propagates its yellowish tinge of magnitude -2.7. A view through binoculars may expose a tiny disc with up to four reflection positioned points of light spaced out either side of it. These are the Galilean moons of Jupiter – Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. You can watch them change position as they orbit around the giant planet almost on an hourly basis and you can certainly note the changes of position from night to night.

A small telescope will show you a lot more. Magnifications of 50x to 100x will show considerable detail, including some of the cloud belts and possibly the Great Red Spot. Earth’s atmospheric conditions will affect what and how much you can see, so be prepared to experiment with more, or even less, magnification.

The use of colored glass filters can help improve your view of the planet too. They boost the contrast and can allow you to see more detail on the planet surface. A light yellow filter can work well as can an orange or even a red one. It’s worth experimenting here too. See if you can see the slightly squashed appearance of the disc – this is caused by the fact that Jupiter is rotating so fast on its axis, in around 10 hours, that it is flattened at its poles.

The moons passes in front of and go behind Jupiter, events respectively known as transits and occultations, which can produce fascinating viewing. Transits are the most interesting of all as you may be able to see the shadows of the moons on the disc of the planet itself as they cross Jupiter’s face. These are known as shadow transits.