Jupiter

On Monday, the big gassy planet was as close to us as it has been since 1963. It will not be this close again for more than a century. You can still check it out: a good pair of binoculars or spotting scope may allow you to see the moons, at the least, and perhaps some striping details of the clouds, maybe even the long storm we call the Eye. I couldn’t see that, but the moons were there and the planet’s light was so bright it pierced the thin clouds over Brooklyn.