Parker Solar Probe takes first image of the surface of Venus

In the darkness of the night, the device's cameras were able to capture this faint glow caused by the immense heat radiating from the surface.

A statement issued by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said that the Parker Solar Probe was able to capture the first visible optical images of the surface of Venus. Those images revealed an extremely hot red glow on the planet's surface, radiating through a "mantle" of toxic clouds wrapping around it.

Based on a study analyzing these images, published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists expect this discovery to help better understand the minerals that make up this mysterious rocky planet, and learn more about the geology of Venus, and the evolution of the planet.

Deep pictures

According to a report published on the "Science Alert" website, the surface of Venus is often surrounded by dense clouds that obscure it from view, but during the last two flights of the Parker probe around the planet, using the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe "WISPR", the probe was able to image the dark side of the planet's surface with wavelengths of the visible spectrum, a type of light that the human eye can see, and extends to the near infrared.

The collected images in a video clip revealed a faint glow from the surface that shows distinctive features such as continental regions, plains and plateaus, which enabled scientists to look under the thick atmosphere of Venus, as well as see a halo of oxygen in the atmosphere around the planet.

“We are pleased with the scientific insights that the Parker Solar Probe has provided so far, as it continues to exceed our expectations, and we are excited that these new observations that have been captured can help advance Venus research in unexpected ways.

On the other hand, astrophysicist Brian Wood, the study's lead author and a member of the Wide Field Imaging Instrument (WISPR) team, said, "Venus is the third brightest thing in the sky, but until recently we didn't have much information about what the surface looked like, because our view of it." obscured by a thick atmosphere,” but “we were finally able to see the surface of Venus at wavelengths visible for the first time from space.”

Evil planet

According to a NASA statement, despite the relative proximity of Venus to Earth, it is very difficult to study it, as Venus is known as the “evil twin” of Earth, as it is the twin of Earth in terms of similarity with it in size, mass, structure and composition, but it is evil because it is hostile. It is not suitable for life at all due to its geological and climatic characteristics.

Earth is temperate and humid, while Venus is dry and possibly volcanic, with average surface temperatures of 471 degrees Celsius. The sky of Venus is also filled with thick, toxic clouds that rain down sulfuric acid, and thus these features make it difficult to investigate the properties of the planet and study its atmosphere closely.

According to a NASA report, the first images of Venus were taken by the Wide Field Imager in July 2020, on the third flight of the Parker Probe, which the spacecraft uses to bend its orbit close to the sun.

The NASA statement adds, "The main goal of designing the wide field imaging device was initially for the purpose of seeing faint features in the solar atmosphere and winds, but some scientists later believed that they could also use it to photograph the cloud tops that obscured Venus as Parker passed near it.

"The goal of using the wide imaging device was initially to measure the speed of the clouds that obscure the view of the planet, but the device was also able to image the surface of the planet," says Angelos Forledas, co-author of the new research paper and a researcher in the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.

"The images were so amazing that the scientists turned on the cameras again during the fourth flight of the Parker Probe in February 2021, as the device was able to image the dark side of Venus," Angelius adds.

How was the surface of Venus photographed?

In its explanation of how to take pictures of the surface of Venus, NASA goes on to say that the device captured a range of wavelengths from 470 nanometers to 800 nanometers. Some of that light was near-infrared — wavelengths we can't see but feel as heat — and some was in the visible range, between 380 nanometers and about 750 nanometers.

A statement added that the very longest visible wavelengths, which limit the wavelengths of near-infrared rays, make them pass, and thus this red light is lost amid the bright sunlight reflected on the clouds tops of Venus, but in the darkness of the night, the device's cameras were able to capture this faint glow Caused by the enormous heat emitted from the surface.