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[Music]

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what's up for july

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the evening star beckons and in search

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of the milky way

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sunsets in july come with an added bonus

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a brilliant gem low in the western sky

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calling to us to come and explore its

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many mysteries

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this is the planet venus it's our cosmic

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next door neighbor that is

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the planet with the closest orbit to the

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orbit of earth

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it's often thought of as earth's sister

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planet given that it's also a rocky

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world

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of the same size though venus developed

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into a hellishly hot world

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where earth became the cool blue planet

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we know and love

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venus is sometimes referred to as the

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morning star or the evening star

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depending on whether it's visible around

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sunrise or sunset

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this month it's the latter as you'll

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find venus appearing low in the west in

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the half hour after sunset

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together with a faint planet mars in

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fact you can watch each evening as venus

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and mars get closer

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culminating with a close conjunction on

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july 12th when they'll be only a fingers

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width apart

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look for them together with a slim

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crescent moon that's only 10

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illuminated in june nasa announced that

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two new space missions would be heading

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to venus beginning later in the decade

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veritas and davinci plus will

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investigate the planet's surface and

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atmosphere

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returning incredible images maps and

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other data

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likely rewriting our understanding of

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how earth's sister planet became so

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inhospitable

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along with how it might still be active

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today they'll be joined by the european

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spacecraft

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envision for what's sure to be an

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exciting new chapter in solar system

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exploration

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july is one of the best times of year to

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enjoy the magical sight that is the

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milky way

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this is our view of our spiral galaxy

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scene edge on

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from within now some part of the milky

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way is visible in the night sky

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any time of year but the galaxy's bright

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complex core

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is only observable during certain months

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earlier in the season you have to wait

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until the wee hours of the morning for

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the core to rise in the sky

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but in june and july the core has

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already risen by the time it's fully

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dark and can be seen

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fairly well until around 2 am when it

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starts to set

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now the milky way is faint and to see it

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you'll need to find your way out to

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fairly dark skies

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but as long as you're below about 55

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degrees north latitude you should be

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able to observe the milky way

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core southern hemisphere observers have

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it even better as the core appears much

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higher overhead there

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one super important tip is to avoid the

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full moon and the days close to it

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since a bright moon overwhelms the faint

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glow of the milky way

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the three or four nights around the new

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moon are best but the week before and

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after is also okay

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you just have to note when the moon will

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be rising or setting

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there are a variety of great apps and

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websites to help you find dark skies and

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figure out when and where to look

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so here's hoping you get out there and

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experience one of the most

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fantastic sights the night sky has to

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offer

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here are the phases of the moon for july

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you can catch up on all of nasa's

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missions to explore the solar system and

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beyond

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at nasa.gov i'm preston dykes from