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Venus Probe Returns First Images

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the check-out-the-umm-clouds dept.

The BBC reports on the first images returned from Venus by the EU probe. From the article: "They show the hothouse planet's south pole from a distance of 206,452km. Mission scientists are already intrigued by a dark 'vortex' feature which can be clearly seen in one image. Venus Express will orbit the planet for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which is thought to have undergone runaway greenhouse warming." They're offering some high-rez images of the planet at the ESA website.

2 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. ESA is not a part of the EU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just a minor correction - but the European Space Agency is not a part of the EU - and countries outside the EU participate as well.

  2. Re:Has to be green house gases by ScriptedReplay · · Score: 4, Informative
    It cant possibly be that Venus is 23 million miles closer to the sun. It cant be that Venus is 25% closer to the Sun than the Earth. Has to be the carbon dioxide. After all there can be only one cause for any effect.

    Well, let's see ... according to wikipedia, here's a small list:
    • Mercury surface temperature: 90 K (min) 440 K (avg) 700 K (max)
    • Venus surface temperature: 228 K (min, cloud tops) 737 K (avg) 773 K (max)
    • Earth surface temperature: 185 K (min) 287 K (avg) 331 K (max)
    • to make
    • Mars surface temperature: 133 K(min) 210 K (avg) 293 K (max)


    Now, if distance to the Sun is all there is to explain it, someone messed up really bad with our basic knowledge of the Solar System, for Venus is the hottest inner planet and should obviously be the closest to the Sun. No way it could be about twice further from it than Mercury.

    Also, could you please enlighten us how can it be that the temperature difference between night and day on Venus is so small in spite of the rotation period being about 243 Earth days? wouldn't ~4 Earth-months worth of night be enough to cool that side of the planet? after all, Mercury's day is almost 4 timers shorter than Venus' and the max. temperature is close, but the min temperature on Mercury is low enough for high Tc superconductivity.