Venusian Clouds in the Infrared
Date: 12 July 2006
Satellite: Venus Express
Depicts: Venus cloud cover at two infrared wavelengths
Copyright: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA
These infrared images were taken by the Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared spectrometer (VIRTIS) on 25 April 2006, while Venus Express was flying over low Venusian latitudes (between 15° and 60° south).
The two images were taken at 2.3 μm (left) and 1.7 μm (right) and show a fine atmospheric structure below the Venusian cloud deck, at about 35 and 20 kilometres altitude, respectively.
Stripe-like features are visible at the bottom of the images. They could be indicative of a wave-like atmospheric motion (possibly due to tidal forces), but their nature is still unexplained.
A geographical projection of the image taken at 1.7 μm (right) is available under "related images" at the right-hand side.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
