Posted on 12/16/2006 9:20:19 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The results, presented today at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) assembly in San Francisco, USA, were obtained thanks to VIRTIS, the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer on board Venus Express. To obtain this fundamental information about the surface temperature, VIRTIS made use of the so-called infrared spectral 'windows' present in the Venusian atmosphere. Through these 'windows' thermal radiation at specific wavelengths can leak from the deepest atmospheric layers, pass through the dense cloud curtain situated at about 60 kilometres altitude, and then escape to space, where it can be detected by instruments like VIRTIS. In this way VIRTIS succeeded in looking through the thick carbon dioxide curtain surrounding Venus and detected the heat directly emitted by the hot rocks on the ground... On Venus there are no day and night variations of the surface temperature. The heat is globally 'trapped' under the carbon-dioxide atmosphere, with pressure 90 times higher than on Earth. Instead, the main temperature variation is due to topography. Just like on Earth, mountain tops are colder, whereas the lowlands are warmer. The 'only' difference is that on Venus 'cold' means 447º Celsius, while 'warm' means 477º Celsius. Such high temperatures are caused by the strongest greenhouse effect found in the Solar System... Eventually, the VIRTIS team hopes to identify 'hot spots' on the surface of Venus, possibly stemming from active volcanoes.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
The temperature maps of the Venusian surface shown in this image were built thanks to direct measurements obtained by Venus Express' VIRTIS instruments (left), compared with surface temperature predictions based on the Magellan topographic data obtained in the early 1990s (right). (Credits: ESA/VIRTIS-VenusX Team)
Happy Birthday, Venus Express!
ScienceDaily | November 12, 2006
Posted on 12/05/2006 9:56:00 AM EST by A. Pole
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1748698/posts
Certainly not the jungle planet that Edgar Rice Burroughs made me want to believe in.
The NASA world wind program has a good Venus add on. It's a zoomable globe of the venusian surface radar imaging.
Double vortex at Venus South Pole unveiled!
European Space Agency | 27 June 2006
Posted on 07/02/2006 3:25:19 AM EDT by A. Pole
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659205/posts
Unexpected detail in first-ever Venus south pole images
European Space Agency | 13 April 2006 | European Space Agency
Posted on 04/14/2006 2:33:44 AM EDT by raygun
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614847/posts
Venus, Moon, and Neighbors
Credit & Copyright Joe Orman
Thanks!
I'm sure George Adamski would be disappointed with the latest data, if he were alive. Unless he'd hooked up with Richard Hoagland...
Richard Hoagland thinks the moon is littered with C3PO heads.
Hey, at least we've got a possible endgame in sight, finally:
http://www.enterprisemission.com/
Kokopelli ..and the End of Time: The Mayan Countdown to 2012
Reworked images reveal hot Venus
BBC | 1-13-03 | Dr David Whitehouse
Posted on 01/14/2004 8:25:16 PM EST by Central Scrutiniser
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1058128/posts
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