Months after claiming the ultimate speed record for an artificial object and after dipping below our Sun’s atmosphere for the first time, the Parker Solar Probe has now achieved its own personal first as it took photos of Venus in the visible light spectrum for the very first time using the probe’s onboard Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument.
The planet, notorious for its thick atmosphere, has often had its surface features obfuscated, meaning it is commonly not that easy to study its features at a distance. This is the reason why earlier missions to our other neighboring planet have their probes plunge through Venus’ blistering-hot atmosphere, all at the chance of gathering crucial insights into what’s happening below its clouds.
Thankfully, the Parker Solar Probe didn’t need to do such stunts, as its mission lies elsewhere; nevertheless, scientists pointed the Sun-bound probe’s WISPR cameras towards the nightside of Venus, granting scientists images of its beauty in visible light that extends into the near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. A study detailed these images further, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“We’re thrilled with the science insights Parker Solar Probe has provided thus far,” said NASA Headquarters’ Heliophysics Division director Nicola Fox. “Parker continues to outperform our expectations, and we are excited that these novel observations taken during our gravity assist maneuver can help advance Venus research in unexpected ways.”
Brain Wood, lead author of the published study and from the United States Naval Research Laboratory, added: “Venus is the third brightest thing in the sky, but until recently we have not had much information on what the surface looked like because our view of it is blocked by a thick atmosphere. Now, we finally are seeing the surface in visible wavelengths for the first time from space.”
Parker actually took its first photos of Venus as it performed its flyby of the planet back in July of 2020—a maneuver that’s necessary for the probe to “bend” its orbit closer to the Sun. There, scientists imagined WISPR being capable of measuring the speed of the clouds that pass over Venus’ surface. However, WISPR also managed to take photos of the surface of Venus, and actually viewed through its thick clouds; the scientists were so impressed that they decided to take photos of Venus’ entire nightside again during Parker’s fourth flyby of the planet last year.
Don’t let the concept of “Venus at night” fool you into thinking of a romantic dinner on another planet, however; even at night, Venus’ surface glows in the visible spectrum due to the planet possessing a surface temperature of 460 °C (860 °F). Wood, in NASA’s official statement, calls the planet “like a piece of iron pulled from a forge.”
Scientists can use these new insights into Venus’ atmosphere and surface to improve their knowledge of its surface geology, as well as to discover new insights into the planet’s history and evolution.
“By studying the surface and atmosphere of Venus, we hope the upcoming missions will help scientists understand the evolution of Venus and what was responsible for making Venus inhospitable today,” said NASA Planetary Science Division director Lori Glaze. “While both DAVINCI and VERITAS will use primarily near-infrared imaging, Parker’s results have shown the value of imaging a wide range of wavelengths,” referring to NASA’s two future missions that aim to send more spacecraft to study Venus by the end of the decade.
References
- Frazier, S. (2021, February 24). Parker solar probe offers stunning view of venus [Text]. NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/parker-solar-probe-offers-a-stunning-view-of-venus
- Hatfield, M. (2022, February 9). Parker solar probe captures visible light images of venus’ surface [Text]. NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/parker-solar-probe-captures-its-first-images-of-venus-surface-in-visible-light-confirmed
- Magellan. (n.d.). NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 8 March 2022, from https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/magellan/in-depth
- Szondy, D. (2022, February 11). Parker Solar Probe captures first visible light images of Venus. New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/space/parker-solar-probe-captures-first-visible-light-images-venus/
- Wood, B. E., Hess, P., Lustig‐Yaeger, J., Gallagher, B., Korwan, D., Rich, N., Stenborg, G., Thernisien, A., Qadri, S. N., Santiago, F., Peralta, J., Arney, G. N., Izenberg, N. R., Vourlidas, A., Linton, M. G., Howard, R. A., & Raouafi, N. E. (2022). Parker solar probe imaging of the night side of venus. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096302
