Astronomy Ireland’s biggest event of the year, the annual Star-B-Q, gets underway tonight at the GAA grounds in Roundwood, Co Wicklow, Ireland's highest village.
When the event was planned months ago, the giant planet Jupiter was to be the star attraction.
It is high in the south-east at the moment shining brighter than every object in the night sky except the Moon.
Interest will be piqued even further by the presence of an Earth-size scar on the planet, which was first seen last month and appears as a black spot.
The scar was generated by a comet which crashed into the planet with a violence that would have wiped out almost all life on Earth if it happened here. It should be visible, weather permitting, at about 1am in the morning.
Also on show will be the planets Nepture, Uranus and Mars, along with a host of constellations, galaxies and star clusters.
If it is cloudy a number of counter-attractions have been organised.
The evening will start at 7pm with a 3D tour of the universe by Robert Hill, director of the Northern Ireland Space Office at Armagh Planetarium.
There will also be astronomy talks, fire jugglers, live music and an impersonater of the Earl of Rosse, who once owned the biggest telescope in the world, the Leviathan of Parsonstown in Birr, Co Offaly.
The telescope aspect of the event will be run next weekend if the skies are not sufficiently clear tonight.
