The general public is being urged to look upwards on Sunday night for a stunning sight.
From 9 pm onwards, Jupiter will blaze just below the Moon, making the two brightest objects in the night sky look like they are "on top of each other."
Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine, David Moore, said: "This will be one of the most spectacular events visible to the general public during 2025, and a perfect way to end the year!
"It is really only a line-of-sight effect, with Jupiter being about 1,600 times farther away than the Moon, but to the general public it will look as though they are almost on top of one another!"
"This is definitely an event for your 'bucket list,' seeing the two brightest objects in the night sky."
All the giant planets in our Solar System have rings, with Jupiter’s faint system of dust and small pieces of rock featuring the halo ring, main ring, Amalthea gossamer ring, and Thebe gossamer ring.
It is approximately 700 million kilometres from Earth, highlighting how impressive this weekend’s sight will be.
Jupiter is roughly 140,000 kilometres wide, making it 11 times wider than Earth and about 1,300 times Earth’s volume.
The temperature on its Sun-facing side is around −130C and it completes a rotation roughly every 10 hours.
Jupiter has 79 moons, 53 of which have been named, with 26 remaining unnamed.
The planet can support so many moons because its size and mass give it a strong gravitational influence.
This means asteroids near Jupiter are either pulled in and destroyed or captured into orbit.
It also has the strongest magnetic field of all the planets in our Solar System.
Jupiter is orange-yellow but reflects mainly blue and white rays of the spectrum.
The outer atmosphere of the planet is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, with some water droplets, ice crystals, and ammonia crystals.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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