A dazzling bright star has greeted early risers in the southern sky this spring. That bright star is actually the planet Jupiter, and it's beginning to make its move into the evening spotlight.

Jupiter now rises around 10:30 p.m. and can be see about 15 degrees above the southeastern horizon by midnight. The cream-colored gem now sparkles at a dazzling bright --2.7 magnitude and will outshine everything except the moon in the southern sky this summer. The king of the planets will rise earlier and climb higher in the sky each evening until it goes into opposition with Earth on July 9. The planet will then rise at sunset, shine in the sky all night long and set with the sun.

Jupiter glows just to the left of the famous "Teapot" asterism in Sagittarius. Because of the planet's relatively low position along the ecliptic, Jupiter will trace a relatively low path across the sky and rise less than 30 degrees above the horizon this summer.