See the moon visit Jupiter Saturday evening (Oct. 8)

If local weather conditions permit, you will be able to see a waxing gibbous moon in the sky on Saturday evening.

They will be posed in the east-southeastern part of the sky as darkness falls. Just below and to the left of Jupiter will be the moon, which will be 99 percent illuminated by the sun.

If you hold your fist at arm's length you can see how wide 4 degrees is. The moon and Jupiter will be separated by less than a fist. The moon is one half degree wide. The moon appears larger than it actually is because of an optical illusion. When the moon and Jupiter are visible in the sky on Saturday evening, they will appear to be less than half the distance predicted.

You can see what you can see tonight.

You don't need the moon to identify Jupiter; it's easy to notice. Jupiter has taken over as the brighter object in the night sky because Venus is out of view.

Jupiter is the second-brightest object in the night sky and it doesn't set until after 6 a.m. local daylight time. Soon after twilight ends, it is joined by the bright stars of autumn. The Great Square of Pegasus is one of the landmarks of the sky and should not be overlooked when you see the moon and Jupiter.

Jupiter has more illuminated surface area than all the other planets combined and viewers with the smallest telescopes will be able to identify its bright moons.

The Great Red Spot, a giant storm that has been raging on the planet for hundreds of years, can be seen with a large telescope.

Christopher Go, a planet observer from the Philippines, has provided Space.com with an amazing image he shot of Jupiter on August 27th, which shows the Great Red Spot on the planet's disk.

Mr. Go said transparency was poor but there was a good image to see.

If clouds prevent you from seeing the moon and Jupiter on Saturday, don't worry, they will be together again on Friday.

If you're looking for a telescope or binoculars to observe the moon or the planets in our solar system, our guides for the best binoculars deals and the best telescope deals now can help.

There is an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for a number of publications. We encourage you to follow us on social media: