Photos: Moon hides Jupiter in a spectacular early-morning show

The moon briefly blocked Jupiter from view before dawn Tuesday, creating a striking celestial show for early risers.

The view from College Park, Maryland early Tuesday as the moon passes in front of Jupiter.

The view from College Park, Maryland early Tuesday as the moon passes in front of Jupiter. (Ross Salawitch/BlueSky)

Published:
Today, 10:08 am

Last updated:
Today, 3:16 pm

Early risers had a special treat Tuesday morning, when the waning crescent moon passed in front of Jupiter, briefly hiding the giant planet from view. Astronomers call this an occultation.

For observers in the DC area, Jupiter began disappearing behind the moon’s bright edge around 4:20 a.m. Eastern time and reappeared from behind its dark edge around 5:24 a.m.

Jupiter with the moons Io (right) and Ganymede (left) early Tuesday, imaged through a telescope. (Geoff Chester)

The moon also swept across Jupiter’s four brightest moons, which disappear and reappear at different times.

Jupiter and its four largest moons reappeared from behind the earthshine illuminated moon in spectacular fashion. From top to bottom the moons are:
Europa
Callisto
Io
Ganymede

— SkyGuyInVA (@skyguyinva.bsky.social) 2026-10-06T09:53:45.165Z

Below, find reader photos of this celestial event:

Pics aren’t great because I don’t have the equipment for fine astrophotography, but this morning’s lunar #occultation of #Jupiter was really cool to watch through a telescope. #cwshare @capitalweather.com

— Phil Yabut (@philliefan99.bsky.social) 2026-10-06T11:48:23.347Z

Jupiter showing off this morning #moon #jupiter #weather @JimCantore @StephanieAbrams @JenCarfagno @dougkammerer @ChuckBell4 @melissamollet @nbcwashington @capitalweather @WashingtonianWx @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/l2l71kcOfv

— NBCPhotog22 (@bforte22) October 6, 2026

@capitalweather Perfect conditions to view the Moon & Jupiter this morning. Photo taken in Glen Burnie, MD. pic.twitter.com/L8g0Azo3T6

— TIMOTHY BUTZ (@timbutz70) October 6, 2026
The moon approaching Jupiter early Tuesday morning. (Dave Lyons/X) The Moon and Jupiter (with three moons) is an HDR image taken with Canon SL2 DSLR and a 300mm telephoto lens. (Geoff Chester)