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Parker Solar Probe will “touch” the sun. 24 times. This is what the mission will look like
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Parker Solar Probe is an extraordinary solar probe that has been studying the solar corona, which is the outermost layer of our star’s atmosphere, since 2018. The probe has orbited in close proximity to the Sun many times, and has even passed through the solar corona three times.
So what is Parker doing near Venus? From time to time, it uses the gravity assistance of the second planet in the solar system to pick up speed and get even closer to the sun on its next pass. Scientists decided not to waste time and to point the Parker probe cameras at Venus while performing gravity assistance.
NASA: This is the first-ever image of the surface of Venus in visible light
Now NASA has published Historical photos taken by the Wide-Field Imager (WISPR) instrument during two passes by Venus – in July 2020 and February 2021. In both cases the night side of the planet was photographed.
Initially, the scientists planned to use the Paker probe to measure the speed of clouds in Venus’ atmosphere, but the observations now appear to have had an unexpected effect. Researchers have noticed the surface of the planet under the clouds. As he emphasizes NASAthese are the first ever visible light images of Venus from space showing the surface of the planet.
The photos were also combined into a video that can be seen below:
In the gray photos (these are the ones taken by the Parker probe) we can see a faint glow that actually shows the varied shape of the universal Venus. The photos show, among others plains and plateaus, the location of which is consistent with maps planets. The researchers also compared the photos taken with the images of Venus’ surface taken by radars (the color photos in the above video), which shows that the barely visible ‘glow’ in the Parker photos are fragments of the surface breaking through the thick layer.
But why have scientists only now been able to spot Venus’ surface in images taken in visible light? All because of the incredibly dense atmosphere of this planet and the clouds in it, consisting mainly of sulfuric acid, that do not let visible light through. This means that if you want to see the surface of Venus, you have to use radar research or land a rover on the planet. The second of these methods is quite a challenge, as the Soviet scientists responsible for Wenera program.
More information about the Parker Solar Probe mission can be found at Gazeta.pl
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