Glory on Venus Cloud Tops and the Unkown UV Absorber,
A rainbow-like light phenomenon observed on Venus cloud tops helps to identify the components of the planet’s acidic cloud cover.
When travelling above the clouds, airplane passengers sometimes witness a glory: a light phenomenon similar to a ring-shaped rainbow.
Droplets in the clouds back-scattering the sunlight are responsible for this appearance.
A team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen have now fully imaged a glory on Venus – and thus for the first time on a planet other than Earth.
The data was obtained by ESA’s space probe Venus Express.
The data imply that the sulfuric acid in Venus’ cloud tops could additionally contain pure sulfur or iron chloride - and may help solve one of the oldest mysteries of Venus research.
The glory on Venus cloud tops in false colors.
The center of the concentric colored circles is the pale yellow.
The data were recorded on July 24th, 2011.
Not only visible light, but all wavelengths contribute to the glory.
In order to also make the ultraviolet and infrared contributions visible, in this false color representation each wavelength in the camera data is accounted for by a different color.
The list of possible candidates for the unknown substance is long: for example hydrobromic acid, amorphous sulfur, gaseous chloride and even bacteria have been suggested.
The droplets in the clouds scatter the sunlight back; the observer sees his own shadow on the cloud tops surrounded by colorful concentric circles.
Since April 2011, the Venus Express spacecraft, that has been orbiting Venus since 2006, has been maneuvered into a suitable observing position more than twelve times.
https://www.mps.mpg.de/3265533/PM_2014_03_11_Glory_of_Venus
A rainbow-like light phenomenon observed on Venus cloud tops helps to identify the components of the planet’s acidic cloud cover.
When travelling above the clouds, airplane passengers sometimes witness a glory: a light phenomenon similar to a ring-shaped rainbow.
Droplets in the clouds back-scattering the sunlight are responsible for this appearance.
A team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen have now fully imaged a glory on Venus – and thus for the first time on a planet other than Earth.
The data was obtained by ESA’s space probe Venus Express.
The data imply that the sulfuric acid in Venus’ cloud tops could additionally contain pure sulfur or iron chloride - and may help solve one of the oldest mysteries of Venus research.
The glory on Venus cloud tops in false colors.
The center of the concentric colored circles is the pale yellow.
The data were recorded on July 24th, 2011.
Not only visible light, but all wavelengths contribute to the glory.
In order to also make the ultraviolet and infrared contributions visible, in this false color representation each wavelength in the camera data is accounted for by a different color.
The list of possible candidates for the unknown substance is long: for example hydrobromic acid, amorphous sulfur, gaseous chloride and even bacteria have been suggested.
The droplets in the clouds scatter the sunlight back; the observer sees his own shadow on the cloud tops surrounded by colorful concentric circles.
Since April 2011, the Venus Express spacecraft, that has been orbiting Venus since 2006, has been maneuvered into a suitable observing position more than twelve times.
https://www.mps.mpg.de/3265533/PM_2014_03_11_Glory_of_Venus
