Jupiter’s ‘Opposition Day’ arrives in time for Jupiter Ascending

February 6, 2015

Jupiter is hot right now. Well, technically it’s always hot, but not only has NASA announced plans to visit its moon Europa, but today marks ‘Opposition Day’, as the planet Jupiter reaches opposition to the Sun, with Earth passing directly between the two. Imagine an invisible straight line joining the three together, aligning the planets in ways which wizards and warlocks will undoubtedly be taking advantage of during the day. For the rest of us, get out your telescopes as Jupiter will be its closest to Earth until 2019, and will be visible at night-time from 8:34 PM – 5:42 AM in Melbourne, 9:09 PM – 5:57  AM in Sydney, 7:50 PM – 5:07 AM in Perth and 7:13 PM – 4:48 AM in Brisbane.

It’s also an opportune time for the Wachowski’s new film, Jupiter Ascending, as the confluence of the heavens marks the day of the ‘Harvest’ in the movie. Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum star in the science-fiction epic, in which the ordinary Jupiter Jones (Kunis) finds herself next in line for a cosmic inheritance, heralded by the arrival of genetically-engineered hunter Caine (Tatum).

In honour of Opposition Day, we have a piece of production art of ‘The Zero’ for your delectation:

JUPITER ASCENDING

You can check out the rest of the production art here at the Jupiter Ascending website.

Jupiter Ascending arises in Australian cinemas on 19 February, 2015.