Venus – the 'opaque neighbour'
Venus – the 'opaque neighbour'
Venus, Earth's neighbour in space, hides its surface under a dense atmosphere. Venus's clouds of sulphuric acid prevent telescopes and instruments on board spacecraft having a direct view of the planet’s surface in visible wavelengths of light. These images of Venus were acquired in 2019 by the Japanese Venus orbiter Akatsuki from different distances in ultraviolet wavelengths. The extraordinary dynamics of the planet's atmospheric processes are clearer in ultraviolet light than in visible light. Bands of cloud exhibit 'super-rotation' as they move around Venus faster than the planet turns around its axis of rotation.
