Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: If you could look at Venus with radar eyes - this is what you might see. This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft. Magellan orbited Venus and used radar to map our neighboring planet's surface between 1990 and 1994. Magellan found many interesting surface features, including the large circular domes, typically 25-kilometers across, that are depicted above. Volcanism is thought to have created the domes, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. Venus' surface is so hot and hostile that no surface probe has lasted more than a few minutes.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publications with keywords: Venus - surface
Publications with words: Venus - surface
See also:

• Bright Planets, Crescent Moon
• A Daylight Eclipse of Venus
• Venus Near the Moon
• Swirling Clouds Over the South Pole of Venus
• The Surface of Titan
• Venus Falls Out of the Evening Sky
• The Belt of Venus

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