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What's New about Venus Express
August 2008
VMC image data now available from the archive at ESA and also from the Planetary Society.
November ~ December 2007
Venus Express articles published in Ciel et Terre -
Bulletin de la Société Royale belge d'Astronomie, de Météorologie et de Physique du Globe, Vol. 123, n°6.
16 December 2007
Denver
Scientist On Venus' Climate Lessons
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science's astrobiology curator, David Grinspoon, moonlights as a member of Venus Express, a European mission to Venus. He speaks with Ryan Warner about recent findings published in the journal Nature. (First broadcast December 6, 2007.)
14 December 2007
Venus
Express on Colorado Public Radio
Dr. David Grinspoon was interviewed for Colorado Public Radio about Venus Express, the importance of Venus Exploration and future missions.
29 Novermber 2007
Venus
Express Papers Published in Nature Magazine
Listen to Håkan Svedhem's (Venus Express Project Scientist) overview of the Venus mission on this week's Nature Podcast
10 October 2007
A new molecule discovered on Venus !
A new carbon dioxide molecule (C12O16O18) discovered on Venus by SOIR Instrument on Venus Express...(more)
5 June 2007
Venus and Venus Express to greet a visitor
On 5 June 2007,NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will fly-past Venus for the second time! MESSENGER will then travel to the inner solar system to fly past Mercury then to go into orbit around the tiny planet in 2008. MESSENGER first flew past Venus in October 2006, however because the planet was not well situated in the sky (directly in front of the Sun as seen from Earth), no data was collected by the spacecraft, as no communication was possible from Earth. In June 2007, an extensive set of observations of Venus are planned from both spacecraft.
MESSENGER will come within ~350km of Venus, approaching at about 13.4 km/sec with respect to the planet. It will be the first time MESSENGER conducts extensive observations from its suite of seven instruments since its launch and for the first time, a LIDAR will be activitated at Venus. Venus Express will also carry out simultaneous observations from two different vantage points. The Mercury Laser Altimeter on MESSENGER will fire coherent light pulses at the planet while both spacecraft (MESSENGER and Venus Express) will attempt to detect the reflected light from the clouds!
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In April 2007, extensive observations from VIRTIS and VMC were carried out. Using one of NASA's 70-meter Deep Space Network Dishes, about 70 Gb of data was transmitted to Earth by Venus Express. These "movie observations" reveal for the first time, the intricate and dynamic structure within the central region of the southern hemisphere's polar vortex.
MESSENGER is NASA's 6th Discovery mission, led by Dr. Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution. For more information about MESSENGER, please visit the MESSENGER home page at Johns Hopkins University.
Details for the vortex circulation on Venus revealed by VIRTIS
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| VIRTIS movie April 2007 | Enhanced version of the movie | Edge enhanced movie |
This composite video sequence was obtained by the Ultraviolet, Visible
and Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board ESA's Venus Express
mission.
The single images were taken over 5 different orbits from the 7th to the
11th of April 2007. In each orbit the images were collected over a time
span of 8 hours and were separated by about half an hour. The average
distance from the planet was about 65,000 kilometers. The latitude of
the observed area spans 50 to 90 degrees South. The longitude spans about
20 to 150 degrees East.
Using specific wavelengths (3.8 and 1.7 microns, respectively), the observations
allowed simultaneous imaging of the day and night areas around the south
pole at different depths (at about 65 kilometres and below the cloud deck,
respectively). The intersection between the polar atmospheric structures
seen at different wavelengths is visible as well, due to the optical properties
of the clouds.
These videos show details of the planet's south pole in Red-Blue color
composite. The data obtained at 1.7 microns are shown in blue, while data
obtained at 3.8 microns are represented in red. Two other versions, one
with different color stretch and another with edge enhancement are shown
to indicate the details of the inner vortex.
The nominal mission has been extended through May 2009!
Please visit following websites for the latest news, reports, data, and images about Venus Express:
- Venus Express at ESA -- European Space Agency (ESA)
- Venus Express Science & Technology -- European Space Agency (ESA)
- Venus Express News -- The Planetary Society
- Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG)
Other Sites of Interest
- Hubble images of Venus -- HubbleSite
- Your Travel Guide to Venus -- bbc Science & Nature
- Venus Mythology -- Wikipedia
- Venus Crater Database -- Lunar and Planetary Institute
