Venus Express coverage of Venus (9 December 2012 until 5 January 2013)
Date: 10 March 2013
Satellite: Venus Express
Depicts: Coverage of Venus during medium term plan (MTP) #87
Copyright: ESA
This figure shows coverage of Venus by orbital tracks during the reporting period from 9 December 2012 until 5 January 2013 (Medium Term Plan (MTP) 87). The sequence of lines to the left shows the ascending branches of the orbits and the purple colour indicates that the spacecraft is in darkness. The sequence of lines to the right shows the descending branches, and the yellow colour indicates that the spacecraft is in sunlight. The position of the terminator - the dividing line between the day and night sides of the planet - corresponds to the last orbit of this MTP. Purple triangles along the top are the pericentre locations (on left, at the top of the ascending branches) and along the bottom are the apocentre locations (on right, at the bottom of the descending branches). Blue triangles (if present) denote beginning and end of Earth occultations.
The observation geometry allowed the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) to again target two volcanoes that may possibly have been active recently (in geological time scales): Mielikki Mons (-80°E, -28°N) and Inninni Mons (-31.7°E, -34.7°N).
