Jupiter, the “King of Planets”, reaches opposition this month which means that it is opposite the sun in our sky. That's good for sky watchers for two reasons. First, it means that Jupiter can be seen almost any time during the night since it rises when the sun sets and sets when the sun rises, Second, it means that Jupiter is as close to the Earth as it will get for a while which means it appears somewhat larger in your telescope. You don't need a big, expensive telescope to observe Jupiter. Even a small telescope will show one or two of the planet's belts. The most impressive sight with a small telescope is Jupiter’s 4 largest moons which are in constant motion around the planet.
Galileo first saw these moons 400 years ago when he first pointed a telescope at Jupiter. The moons can be seen to move constantly around the planet. You will be able to see differences in their positions, not only from night to night but from hour to hour. The best time to observe Jupiter is at least a couple of hours after it rises or before it sets, that way you don’t have to look through so much of the earth’s atmosphere which blurs the image of the planet substantially. It’s also best to put your telescope outside an hour or so before you observe so that it is close to the outside temperature.
This picture shows two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Ganymede, about to cross in front of the planet, known as a transit. The two dark spots on the surface of the planet are actually the shadows of these moons. The larger moon in this image is Ganymede which is the largest of any moon in our solar system and is actually larger than the planet Mercury. The smaller moon is Io which is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Io is the uppermost moon in this image and Ganymede is the lowermost.