Thread by @ThePlanetaryGuy

This. Is. Amazing.

NASA's #ParkerSolarProbe was able to image the surface of #Venus from space in a way we didn't think possible before!

Here, we can see the Aphrodite Terra highland *glowing* through the clouds (left), exactly where radar data tell us it should be (right)!

Venus' thick cloud layer obscures the surface from space at visible wavelengths—but there are some "windows" at near-infrared wavelengths where cameras can see through to the surface.

PSP took these images at a wavelength not thought to be able to penetrate the clouds before.

This matters because, unlike Mars, Mercury, the Moon, etc, we can't easily see the Venus surface—we have to use radar.

But if we can "see" the surface in the near infrared, we can start to learn things about what it's made of. And thus we can learn new things about Venus.

The new VERITAS and EnVision missions will have similar camera systems, which will use multiple NIR wavelengths to see the surface.

The atmosphere "scatters" light, so these images will be very low resolution.

But at a global scale, they'll be *invaluable*.

And, besides, Parker Solar Probe is a mission to investigate the *Sun*, so getting *photos of the surface of Venus* OPPORTUNISTICALLY is just another example of how amazing—and fortuitous—spacecraft exploration can be!

Images: NASA/APL/NRL (left), Magellan Team/JPL/USGS (right)

Postscript:

At some point, I'll do a thread about Aphrodite Terra, how weird it is, and why we need to understand what it's made of.

But now I have to make tomorrow morning's lecture...