Thanks to a ridge of high pressure keeping the sky mostly clear Monday evening it should be easy to view the opposition of Jupiter.
The opposition of Jupiter usually happens only once a year and is when the Earth finds itself at a point in orbit that keeps the sun and Jupiter opposite of each other. That means that when the sun sets in the west in the evening, Jupiter is rising in the east. Due to being one of the brighter celestial objects, the rise of Jupiter is visible by the naked eye and will climb to its highest point in the night sky by near midnight. The rise of Jupiter will take place in the Maritimes Monday evening between approximately 8:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.
Viewing conditions will be near ideal with just some very thin and broken high cloud in the region. Temperatures will remain in the high single digits and even low teens through the night, with the exception of eastern areas of Nova Scotia, which will have lows in the low-to-mid single digits.
A frost advisory remains in effect for Pictou/Antigonish/Guysborough counties as well as Cape Breton. Any occurring frost is expected to be patchy and away from the coast.
Looking for some rain? Wet weather returns to the Maritimes Tuesday. Expect rain to begin in the afternoon along the border of New Brunswick and Maine, as well as the tri-counties -- Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne -- of Nova Scotia. The evening will see the rain progress across the western half of New Brunswick and mainland Nova Scotia. Eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and eastern Nova Scotia (including Cape Breton) will see the rain arrive late evening and after midnight. Rainfall amounts are expected to range 10 to 25 mm.
Not a bad thing to have some wet weather follow a period of four relatively dry days. The Fire Weather Index for the Maritimes climbed to a high rating for New Brunswick and a moderate-to-high rating for P.E.I. and Nova Scotia over the weekend. Burning restrictions and bans are in place.
