The North Pole of Venus
Explanation:
If you could look down on the
North Pole of Venus what would you see?
The
Magellan probe that orbited
Venus from 1990 to 1994 was able to peer through the
thick Venusian clouds
and build up the
above image by emitting and re-detecting cloud-penetrating
radar.
Visible as the bright patch below central North is Venus'
highest mountain
Maxwell Montes.
Other notable features include numerous mountains,
coronas,
impact craters,
tessera,
ridges, and lava flows.
Although the size and mass of
Venus are similar to the
Earth, its thick
carbon-dioxide atmosphere has
trapped heat so efficiently that surface temperature usually exceeds 700
kelvins, hot enough to melt
lead.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
