The chart shows the path of Jupiter across the background stars over the course of the year. Stars to magnitude +7.5 are shown. The white circles represent the planet on the first day of the month and are scaled according to apparent magnitude. The faint paths before the first circle and after the last circle represent the planet's positions in December of last year and January of next. In general, the planet moves from right to left except when it's in retrograde and proceding in the opposite direction.
The lower chart shows how the appearance of Jupiter changes over the year. Below each image is listed the date, the apparent magnitude, the apparent diameter of the disk (in arc-seconds) and the geocentric distance (in au). Note that Jupiter appears distinctly larger and brighter near the time of opposition.
Jupiter begins the year in the evening sky, slowly moving through the faint background stars of Pisces and Cetus. It has a close pairing with Venus in early March by which time it is getting low to the horizon. Conjunction takes place in April, after which Jupiter moves into the morning sky. By July it is rising around midnight and opposition occurs in November. The Moon occults the gas giant four times between February and May.
| January | |
|---|---|
| 1 | maximum declination south: −0.83° |
| 20 | perihelion: 4.951 au |
| 26 | 1.8° north of the Moon |
| February | |
| 5 | Pisces → Cetus |
| 19 | Cetus → Pisces |
| 22 | lunar occultation: 1.2° north of the Moon (visible from southeastern South America and the Falkland Islands) |
| March | |
| 2 | planetary conjunction: 0.9° south of Venus |
| 22 | lunar occultation: 0.5° north of the Moon (visible from northeastern South America) |
| 26 | 2.2° south of the fourth-magnitude star ε Piscium |
| 28 | planetary conjunction: 1.3° north of Mercury |
| April | |
| 11 | conjunction |
| 19 | lunar occultation: 0.1° south of the Moon (daytime event) |
| May | |
| 8 | 0.6° north of the fourth-magnitude star ο Piscium (Torcular) |
| 17 | lunar occultation: 0.8° south of the Moon (visible from Mexico and the west coast of North America) |
| 18 | Pisces → Aries |
| June | |
| 14 | 1.5° south of the Moon |
| July | |
| 11 | 2.2° south of the Moon |
| August | |
| 7 | west quadrature |
| 8 | 2.9° south of the Moon |
| 21 | 29″ north of the sixth-magnitude star σ Arietis |
| September | |
| 1 | maximum declination north: +15.14° |
| 4 | 3.3° south of the Moon |
| stationary in ecliptic longitude: direct → retrograde | |
| stationary in right ascension: direct → retrograde | |
| October | |
| 2 | 3.4° south of the Moon |
| 29 | 3.1° south of the Moon |
| November | |
| 3 | opposition: magnitude −2.9, apparent diameter 49.45 arc-seconds |
| 25 | 2.8° south of the Moon |
| December | |
| 22 | 2.6° south of the Moon |
| 31 | stationary in ecliptic longitude: retrograde → direct |
| stationary in right ascension: retrograde → direct | |
