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Astronomy Picture of the Day 5-14-03
NASA ^ | 5-14-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

Posted on 05/14/2003 3:54:24 AM PDT by petuniasevan

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.

2003 May 14
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

The North Pole of Venus
Credit: SSV, MIPL, Magellan Team, NASA

Explanation: If you could look down on the North Pole of Venus what would you see? The Magellan probe that orbited Venus from 1990 to 1994 was able to peer through the thick Venusian clouds and build up the above image by emitting and re-detecting cloud-penetrating radar. Visible as the bright patch below central North is Venus' highest mountain Maxwell Montes. Other notable features include numerous mountains, coronas, impact craters, tessera, ridges, and lava flows. Although the size and mass of Venus are similar to the Earth, its thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere has trapped heat so efficiently that surface temperature usually exceeds 700 kelvins, hot enough to melt lead.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: magellan; planet; radar; venus

Vacation Announcement

I will be on vacation from June 2nd through June 9th.
If anyone would like to volunteer to post APOD during that time, please FReepmail me.
Otherwise the APOD will not be posted as I will be visiting relatives in California.

Venus - the kind of place I'd like to send all the liberals. Call it a preview of coming attractions.

Venus Statistics
Mass (kg) 4.869e+24
Mass (Earth = 1) .81476
Equatorial radius (km) 6,051.8
Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) .94886
Mean density (gm/cm^3) 5.25
Mean distance from the Sun (km) 108,200,000
Mean distance from the Sun (Earth = 1) 0.7233
Rotational period (days) -243.0187
Orbital period (days) 224.701
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) 35.02
Orbital eccentricity 0.0068
Tilt of axis (degrees) 177.36
Orbital inclination (degrees) 3.394
Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2) 8.87
Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec) 10.36
Visual geometric albedo 0.65
Magnitude (Vo) -4.4
Mean surface temperature 482°C
Atmospheric pressure (bars) 92
Atmospheric composition
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen
    Trace amounts of: Sulfur dioxide, water vapor,
    carbon monoxide, argon, helium, neon,
    hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride.

96% 
3+% 

Venus Introduction contains lots of images and information on Venus.


News: Are you ready for tomorrow's lunar eclipse? Times | Webcast | Photo Tips

1 posted on 05/14/2003 3:54:24 AM PDT by petuniasevan
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To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...

2 posted on 05/14/2003 3:55:28 AM PDT by petuniasevan (Found: Weird tagline. Call with description to claim)
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To: petuniasevan
Yes, I'm ready for the eclips. I love stuff like that. I try not to miss any different thing happening in the skies.
3 posted on 05/14/2003 5:47:56 PM PDT by Walnut
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To: petuniasevan
I don't think I've seen the webcast site.
It looks interesting.
Thanks for the ping.
4 posted on 05/14/2003 6:00:31 PM PDT by sistergoldenhair (Don't be a sheep. People hate sheep. They eat sheep.)
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To: petuniasevan
Awesome pics today petuniasevan!! Thankyou for the ping.
5 posted on 05/14/2003 6:43:08 PM PDT by trussell (What can I say but-"WOW")
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