July 28 - Venus is Back, Carl Sagan of Weather

[EarthSkyNewsLogo]( July 28 Venus is Back, The 'Carl Sagan of Weather' by: [FaceBookShare]( [TwitterShare]( [color-instagram-96.png]( [color-link-96.png]( [Edit Block](#) [Duplicate Block](#) [Delete Block](#) Have you seen Venus yet? It's now very bright, low in the west shortly after the sun goes down. Look near the time of sunset. Venus will soon follow the sun below the western horizon. Another bright planet (but not as bright) - Mercury - is near Venus in the bright twilight. Venus is the brightest planet. It'll adorn our western sky after sunset for the rest of this year. [For more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide](. [LIVE on Monday: Climate chaos with Daniel Swain]( EarthSky is pleased to host Daniel Swain, a climate scientist, called the Carl Sagan of weather by Stanford Magazine. This wonderful climate communicator will join EarthSky’s Dave Adalian on Monday at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) for a live chat. [Read more and join us for tomorrow's livestream!]( [Canada's Jasper fire: A beautiful place burns]( A huge, fast wildfire ripped through the historic town of Jasper - and nearby national park - in Alberta, Canada, this past week. The town is just 15 miles (24 km) from the West Entrance to Jasper National Park. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains and said to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The fire has prompted [an outcry for a strong national wildfire strategy in Canada](. Images and videos added by EarthSky. [Sun news: Cannibal CME headed our way]( On Friday, the sun launched a [coronal mass ejection]( - a great chunk of solar material and magnetic fields, aka a CME - from a [filament]( eruption. Yesterday, a 2nd CME, this one associated with an [M3.1 flare]( left the sun toward Earth. The 2nd one is moving in space faster than the first. So the 2nd CME will overtake the slower one, cannibalizing it and creating a more complex single event. The resulting cannibal CME is estimated to reach Earth from late Monday (July 29) to early Tuesday. [Read the sun news](. [Summer Olympics: 128 years of history in 5 charts]( Did you know fishing used to be an Olympic sport? Or that Hungary has the largest Olympic medal count per capita in the world? And did you know 24 athletes have competed in the Olympics posthumously? [Olympic history in 5 charts, here … plus take our quiz!]( [Planet Pluto?]( On August 9, planetary astronomer Jean-Luc Margot will introduce a new scientific definition of planet to the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. Will it return Pluto to planet status? Jean-Luc spoke LIVE with EarthSky's Deborah Byrd this past Monday. [Pluto, in this 1-minute video](. [EarthSky is a clear voice for science on YouTube ...]( Coming up on Monday ... Climate chaos with climatologist Daniel Swain. He's a California-based expert on wildfires - and will be talking about the fast-moving [Park Fire]( - and more. Join us at 12:15 p.m. central ([17:15 UTC]( on Monday, July 29. And if you haven’t yet joined our YouTube community, we invite you to [subscribe to our channel today]( [Next 2 mornings … Moon, planets, stars]( On Monday and Tuesday mornings, look east before sunrise for an eye-catching sight. On Monday, the [waning crescent]( moon will lie close to the glimmering [Pleiades]( star cluster. Red [Mars]( and bright Jupiter will lie nearby. On the morning of July 30, the moon, Jupiter, Mars and the star [Aldebaran]( will form a rectangle in the morning sky. You can see them all before dawn's light wipes them from view. [Read more and watch a video](. For more sky events, [visit EarthSky’s night sky guide](. [Yellowlegs mirrored in an Alaskan pond]( [View at EarthSky Community Photos](. | Our friend [Eliot Herman]( of Tucson - a wonderful nature photographer - has spent recent summers in Anchorage, Alaska. He wrote: “The progress through the summer happens quickly in Alaska. Changes occur over days, and the progress of life is quick as [Potter Marsh]( evolves. The migrating birds change, a few weeks ago dozens of tree swallows, now gone, in mid-July dozens of Lesser Yellowlegs. These birds are just beginning to become active for the day with the rising sun to go feed in the marsh. An exceptional day with nice light made for great mirror photography of these birds.” Thank you, Eliot! Wonderful. [Submit your photo to EarthSky here!]( Subscribe & Support Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? [Click here to get your own subscription](. Want to help support EarthSky? Forward this email to a friend. Share our content via your social media. Consider a [donation](. Or go [shopping at the EarthSky Store](. Thank you for your support! by: [Like us on Facebook]( [Follow us on Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Website]( [Edit Block](#) [Duplicate Block](#) [Delete Block](#) [update your profile]( | [unsubscribe](