Technologies

Friday Night Offers You One Shot at 2026’s Most Jaw-Dropping View of Jupiter

Set your alarm, or stay up late, and get your binoculars or telescopes ready for a brilliant planetary show.

January has kept sky-gazers busy with a steady stream of celestial events. We’re less than 10 days into the year, and we’ve already had a supermoon, the peak of the Quadrantids meteor shower and an aurora borealis sighting. It appears the cosmos isn’t done yet, as the evening of Jan. 9 will be the best night to view the largest planet, Jupiter, in all of 2026. That means it’s time to break out the telescopes and warm jackets if you want to catch a glimpse.

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This is all due to a phenomenon called opposition, which occurs when the Earth’s orbit brings us directly between the sun and the planet in opposition. This is when Earth is closest to the planet, making it more visible. This can only happen with planets further away from the sun than Earth, which means everything from Mars outward.

Friday night into Saturday morning will see the Earth move between the sun and Jupiter, which will bring Jupiter as close to Earth as it will get in 2026. According to StarWalk, Jupiter will reach opposition at approximately 3:34 a.m. ET, after which the planets will begin to drift apart again.

During its opposition, Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky other than the moon and the sun, and it’ll remain that way for the next couple of weeks. (Venus is technically brighter than Jupiter during this time, but it will be hidden behind the sun during mid-January.)

Jupiter goes into opposition about once every 13 months, so your next chance to view the gas giant won’t be until early 2027.

How to view Jupiter during opposition

Jupiter will rise from the eastern horizon right around sunset local time. It’ll streak across the southern sky before setting in the west right at sunrise. That should give sky-gazers plenty of time to find and view Jupiter before it sets. It’ll repeat this process for weeks, so if you do have to miss it tonight due to weather or other reasons, you can check it out tomorrow or next week as well.

Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye — it’ll look like a star if viewed without any magnification. Thanks to its increased brightness, it’ll be easily viewable in cities and the suburbs as well, although you will get a better view if you head out of town and away from the light pollution.

Things get a lot more interesting with magnification. A pair of high-powered binoculars will give you a pretty good glimpse of the gas giant, and you might potentially catch a glimpse of Jupiter’s moons if your binoculars are strong enough. Stepping up to a telescope, even a low-powered one, makes viewing the planet and its moons much easier.

There are several free resources if you need help finding Jupiter, including Stellarium’s sky map and Time and Date’s sky viewing tool. The weather should also be relatively decent, with many parts of the US experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Jan. 10

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 10.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is not only the longest of this week, but I believe it’s the toughest. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Pieces of legislation
Answer: ACTS

5A clue: Like blue whales and the Burj Khalifa
Answer: BIG

8A clue: Cuisine with tom yum soup
Answer: THAI

9A clue: This clue number ÷ 9
Answer: ONE

10A clue: Classic internet prank
Answer: RICKROLL

12A clue: Ranked above all others
Answer: ATTHETOP

13A clue: «What was ___ was saying?»
Answer: ITI

14A clue: This clue number – 9
Answer: FIVE

15A clue: Home of MoMA
Answer: NYC

16A clue: Read receipt below an Instagram message
Answer: SEEN

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Alphabetically first subway line in 15-Across
Answer: ATRAIN

2D clue: Either blank of «___ ___ Bang Bang»
Answer: CHITTY

3D clue: Bit of strategy
Answer: TACTIC

4D clue: Religious wearer of a turban known as a dastar
Answer: SIKH

5D clue: Baby’s knitted shoe
Answer: BOOTIE

6D clue: Smitten
Answer: INLOVE

7D clue: Writer’s alternative to a ballpoint
Answer: GELPEN

11D clue: Often-heckled sports figures
Answer: REFS

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 10, #474

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 10, No. 474.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. All of those initials were difficult to sort through. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Hockey players.

Green group hint: Not the whole name.

Blue group hint: Colleges.

Purple group hint: Gridiron groups.