The dark function prominently observed in the center of the image is referred to as Aphrodite Terra, which is the biggest highland area on the surface of Venus. Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Laboratory/Guillermo Stenborg and Brendan Gallagher
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe catches new photos of Venus! While studying the dynamics of the sun, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA’s) Parker Solar Probe has come closer to Venus and captured some amazing views of the planet. The photos have been taken in July 2020 as the Parker Solar Probe flew close by Venus’s orbit. NASA mentioned that throughout the third Venus gravity help on July 11, 2020, some photos of Venus have been captured by the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR). The image shows the planet’s nightside and has been taken from 7,693 miles away.
According to NASA, when the concentrate is intact on the Sun, Venus as well plays an significant function in the mission. Over the course of seven years, the probe is anticipated to come close to Venus seven instances in order to use the planet’s gravitational force to bend the spacecraft’s orbit. It is this orbit that enables the spacecraft to fly closer to the Sun to study and have an understanding of the star’s dynamics of the solar wind. While studying this, NASA explains at instances “these passes can also yield some unique and even unexpected views of the inner solar system.”
While crossing Venus, the camera was capable to detect a vibrant rim about the planet, which NASA suspects is probably to be the nightglow. It is to note that a nightglow can be identified as light that oxygen atoms emit in the atmosphere and they recombine into molecules in the nightside. The scientists mentioned that the dark function prominently observed in the center of the image is referred to as Aphrodite Terra, which is the biggest highland area on the surface of Venus. The look is dark in colour as the temperature at this area is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) cooler when compared to the surroundings on the surface.
Scientists shocked to see the image
The image has taken scientists by surprise. According to Angelos Vourlidas, a WISPR project scientist, WISPR has been tailored and tested to capture photos beneath visible light, and, for that reason, they anticipated to just see the clouds. However, the camera succeeded in capturing the planet’s surface. This is anticipated to lead to some other thrilling possibilities.
Meanwhile, Parker Solar Probe in the space beneath NASA’s Living with a Star plan that is aimed at exploring elements of the Sun-Earth method that have the capability to straight influence life and society. Parker Solar Probe has been in space considering the fact that 2015.