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as seen from Earth orbit - only allows us to see Jupiter at full or nearly full phase. Instead, an earthly spacecraft - the Cassini mission to Saturn - obtained this image of Jupiter when it made its closest approach to the planet while sweeping past it on December 30, 2000.
• Jupiter at west quadrature on September 7, 2012
• What if you don't stay up late - and you never get up before sunup? Can you still see Jupiter? Sure. All things come to those who wait, and Jupiter is just beginning its season of evening visibility that will last through the end of the year. Day by day the king of planets will rise earlier and earlier. Soon, it'll be visible in mid-evening, then early evening.
• Come early December 2012, Jupiter will rise as the sun sets. At this point, it will be at opposition, when Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun, causing Jupiter to lie directly opposite the sun in our sky and thus be visible all night.
• Bottom line: Between midnight and dawn on the morning of September 8, the bright object near the moon is the planet Jupiter. The other bright starlike object up there is another planet, Venus. By Sunday morning, September 9, the moon will be between Venus and Jupiter. Don't miss 'em!