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Credit & Copyright: Doug Zubenel
(TWAN)
Explanation:
Why would Venus appear oval?
Venus has been seen countless times from the surface
of the Earth, and every time the
Earth's atmosphere
has dispersed its light to some degree.
When the air has just the right amount of dust or water droplets, small but distant
objects like Venus appear spread out into an angularly large aureole.
Aureoles are not unusual to see and are frequently noted as circular
coronas around the
Sun or
Moon.
Recently, however, aureoles have been imaged that are not circular but distinctly
oval.
The above oval Venusian aureole was imaged by the
astrophotographer
who first noted the unusual phenomenon three years ago.
Initially disputed, the
unusual distortion has now been
confirmed multiple times by several
different astrophotographers.
What causes the ellipticity is
currently unknown, and although
several
hypotheses hold
that horizontally oriented
ice crystals are responsible, significant
discussions about it are still taking place.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Venus - atmosphere
Publications with words: Venus - atmosphere
See also: