Jupiter closest to Earth in 6 decades, its sharpest picture comprising 6 lakh images OUT!

As Jupiter is at its closest distance to Earth in almost six decades, it is providing excellent viewing opportunities to astrophotographers across the world. Cashing in on the opportunity, one such photographer from Arizona, US, has captured the sharpest image of the gas giant using his 11-inch telescope. 

Named Andrew McCarthy, the photographer revealed that his picture was developed after stitching six lakh individual images together and says that it is his sharpest shot of the planet so far. "This was captured with my 11" telescope and a color camera I usually use for deep sky work", McCarthy wrote in his Instagram post.

According to NASA, Jupiter is currently undergoing opposition, a phenomenon when the planet is on the opposite of the sun, with Earth between the two. Since Jupiter reflects a high amount of sunlight during opposition, the planet is much easier to spot than the rest of the year. Besides, it is also at its closest distance from Earth in 59 years. NASA says that the gas giant will be 591 million kilometers away from our planet on September 26, closest since the last recorded instance in 1963.

Adam Kobelski, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, says that anyone can spot Jupiter at this time with good binoculars. With a 4-inch-or-larger telescope, one can even see the bands of the planet and the famous Great Red Spot.

McCarthy also posted the same picture on his Twitter handle with a caption that read, "After spending all night shooting around 600,000 photos of it, I’m thrilled to show you my sharpest Jupiter shot so far. This was captured using an 11” telescope and a camera I usually use for deep sky work".

The Arizona-based photographer's images, in his Instagram profile full of close-up images of the Moon and the sun, go viral every now and then. Recently, his most-detailed photo of the sun hit the headlines and just a day ago, he posted a blistering image of a sunspot.