Last updated: 11 July 2026
A much bigger orbit than Earth's
Jupiter orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 778 million kilometres — 5.2 astronomical units — compared with Earth's 149.6 million kilometres. Because Jupiter is so much farther from the Sun, it also moves far more slowly along its orbit, taking almost 12 Earth years to complete a single lap. Earth, by contrast, laps the Sun (and Jupiter) once a year, so the Earth–Jupiter distance runs through a full closest-to-farthest cycle roughly every 13 months — Jupiter's synodic period as seen from Earth.
Closest approach: opposition
At opposition — when Earth passes between the Sun and Jupiter, with Jupiter visible all night — the two planets are at their closest, typically around 588 to 600 million kilometres apart, since Jupiter's own orbit has a slight but real eccentricity (about 0.048) that shifts the exact figure from one opposition to the next.
Farthest point: conjunction
At conjunction, Jupiter sits on the far side of the Sun from Earth, and the distance stretches to roughly 928 to 968 million kilometres — essentially the sum of both planets' distances from the Sun. Jupiter is also invisible from Earth around conjunction, since it's lost in the Sun's glare.
| Configuration | Approx. distance | Approx. one-way light-time |
|---|---|---|
| Opposition (closest) | ~588–600 million km | ~33 minutes |
| Conjunction (farthest) | ~928–968 million km | ~52–54 minutes |
Why missions to Jupiter take years
The sheer distance is why spacecraft bound for Jupiter rarely fly a direct path. NASA's Galileo probe took about 6 years to arrive via a looping gravity-assist trajectory; New Horizons flew past Jupiter for a gravity boost en route to Pluto; and Juno, launched in 2011, took roughly 5 years to reach Jupiter orbit even on a more direct route. The scale of the outer solar system means "getting there" is measured in years, not months, even for a relatively close neighbour like Jupiter.
Jupiter's apparent size changes with distance too
Because the Earth–Jupiter distance varies by more than 60% between opposition and conjunction, Jupiter's apparent disc size in a telescope varies noticeably too — it looks distinctly larger and brighter at opposition, which is also the best time of year for observing the planet and its four largest moons.