Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2021 February 25

                                A Venus Flyby
   Image Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Guillermo Stenborg and
                              Brendan Gallagher

   Explanation: On a mission to explore the inner heliosphere and solar
   corona, on July 11, 2020 the Wide-field Imager on board NASA's Parker
   Solar Probe captured this stunning view of the nightside of Venus at
   distance of about 12,400 kilometers (7,693 miles). The spacecraft was
   making the third of seven gravity-assist flybys of the inner planet.
   The gravity-asssist flybys are designed to use the approach to Venus to
   help the probe alter its orbit to ultimately come within 6 million
   kilometers (4 million miles) of the solar surface in late 2025. A
   surprising image, the side-looking camera seems to peer through the
   clouds to show a dark feature near the center known as Aphrodite Terra,
   the largest highland region on the Venusian surface. The bright rim at
   the edge of the planet is nightglow likely emitted by excited oxygen
   atoms recombining into molecules in the upper reaches of the
   atmosphere. Bright streaks and blemishes throughout the image are
   likely due to energetic charged particles, and dust near the camera
   reflecting sunlight. Skygazers from planet Earth probably recognize the
   familiar stars of Orion's belt and sword at lower right.

                        Tomorrow's picture: fly over
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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