Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 September 1991:
Vol. 253. no. 5027, pp. 1536 - 1538
DOI: 10.1126/science.253.5027.1536
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Middle Infrared Thermal Maps of Venus at the Time of the Galileo Encounter

GLENN S. ORTON 1, JOHN CALDWELL 2, A. JAMES FRIEDSON 1, and TERRY Z. MARTIN 1

1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 169-237, Pasadena, CA 91109
2 Physics Department, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3

Images of the disk of Venus, taken at wavelengths between 8 and 22 micrometers, were obtained a few days after the Galileo spacecraft's closest approach on 8 February 1990; these images show variations in the thickness of the main H2SO4 cloud deck and the overlying temperature structure. Several features are qualitatively similar to those of earlier observations, such as a hot region at the south pole, surrounded by a cold ``collar,'' and brightening toward the lower latitudes, where low-contrast banding appears. The collar does have a northern counterpart that is warmer, however. Equatorial limb darkening is quantitatively similar to that of previous observations; fairly constant at wavelengths up to 20 micrometers, where limb darkening increases substantially. In contrast to what was found in previous observations, polar and equatorial limb darkening are nearly the same at most wavelengths. A longitudinal variation is observable that is consistent with a wavenumber-2 behavior and a brightness maximum near local midnight.

Revised on April 26, 1991
Accepted on July 18, 1991


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ground-Based Near-Infrared Imaging Observations of Venus During the Galileo Encounter.
D. Crisp, D. CRISP, S. MCMULDROCH, S. K. STEPHENS, W. M. SINTON, B. RAGENT, K. -W. HODAPP, R. G. PROBST, L. R. DOYLE, D. A. ALLEN, et al. (1991)
Science 253, 1538-1541
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)