Friday, March 29

They capture for the first time the surface of Venus in visible light | Digital Trends Spanish


NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured the first visible-light images of the surface of Venus, usually hidden by dense clouds that cover it.

The photographs were captured almost by coincidence in a pair of flybys carried out in July 2020 and February 2021. After analysis, they were published in an article for the journal Geophysical Research Letters, where more details about the geological characteristics of the planet are told.

The experts detailed that the shots, which show continental regions, plains and plateaus, were obtained by means of the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, which was designed to observe characteristics of the atmosphere and the wind. solar. However, the specialists considered that this could be used to obtain images of the clouds that hide the surface of the dark side of Venus.

But instead of just taking pictures of thick clouds, the experts ended up with the first visible-light images of the surface of Venus. “It’s exciting to be able to see something that has never been seen; even on its night side the surface of Venus is so hot that it glows dimly at very red wavelengths,” said Brian Wood, a specialist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.

The images, shown in a video edited by NASA, reveal the surface of Venus in shades of black and white. The whiter areas are the hottest, while the darker areas are cooler.

For her part, Giada Arney, a specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, stressed that these shots offer a new look at the characteristics of the planet.

“I think they are very exciting because they provide a new window for study into the lower atmosphere and the surface of Venus, where extreme conditions exist,” said the expert.

The photographs of the surface of Venus were compared to previous maps created with topographical instruments. The comparison shows how temperature changes as a function of altitude, making higher areas cooler than lower areas.

Publisher Recommendations








es.digitaltrends.com