The camera photo on the Parker probe offers a rare opportunity for scientists to observe the dark side of Venus.
Parker probe launched in 2018 to study the Sun. In a seven-year period, the spacecraft will pass through the Sun’s atmosphere and move closer to the star’s surface than any other spacecraft before. Venus played a key role in the success of the ship. Parker uses the gravity of Venus to adjust its orbit and get closer and closer to the sun.
During a flight over Venus on July 11, 2020, a probe took a photo that revealed a rare side of the planet next to Earth. This is the third time that the gravity of Venus has supported the Parker probe. The onboard Wide Field Field Camera (WISPR) device actively took pictures in the passes and captured a dark face that was not facing the sun of Venus. The photo was taken while Parker was flying 12,380 km from Venus.
The light that shines around the planet is called a “nightlight,” which is emitted by oxygen atoms that are very high in the atmosphere and recombine into dark side molecules, ”according to NASA. Due to the space dust and cosmic rays reflecting sunlight, the shape of the trail differs slightly depending on the speed of the probe’s travel speed.The dark object in the center of the image is Aphrodite Terra, the largest plateau of Venus, and the reason it’s so dark is that the region has a temperature 29 degrees Celsius lower than its surroundings.
The WISPR device is designed to be able to capture images of the sun’s corona, or the outer layer of the atmosphere, in visible light. The camera also captures the solar wind in action. The solar wind is a flow of electrically charged particles emanating from the Sun. When he pointed the lens at Venus, WISPR surprised scientists. Instead of seeing clouds, the image reveals the surface of Venus. Venus had a very thick atmosphere and was difficult to see with the equipment on the previous spacecraft. However, WISPR captured the effect of heat emission from the surface of Venus, according to Brian Wood, an astrophysicist, a member of the WISPR project at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.
The Parker probe flew over Venus for the fourth time on February 20, flying 2,385 km above the planet’s surface, so the team plans to observe the dark side of Venus again. They will receive the data at the end of April. This flight will help Parker prepare to reach the Sun for the 8th and 9th times, scheduled for April 29 and August 9, during which the ship will fly 10.5 million kilometers from the star’s surface.
