What's up for skywatchers in July

What’s up for skywatchers in July Today’s Video of the Day from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory describes what stargazers can see in the sky throughout the month of July. 

Look for Venus, the “Evening Star,” low in the west beginning about a half an hour after sunset. The planet will be accompanied by a much fainter Mars.

Each evening, Venus and Mars will get closer. On July 12th, they will be only about a finger’s width apart alongside a slim crescent Moon. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun – a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Mars is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, extinct volcanoes, and evidence that it was even more active in the past. What’s up for skywatchers in July a lot to see and show.

NASA recently announced that two new space missions will be heading to Venus later this decade. VERITAS and DAVINCI+ will investigate the planet’s surface and atmosphere, returning incredible images, maps, and other data. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space science. Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, 

Video Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer