NASA released this spectacular picture of Venus on February 24, 2021, taken by the Parker Solar Probe throughout its Venus flyby in July 2020. The photo voltaic spacecraft – which launched August 12, 2018 – is passing near Venus a complete of seven occasions throughout its seven-year mission to be able to get the gravity assists it wants to assist propel the craft towards nearer and nearer sweeps close to the solar’s floor.
Parker Photo voltaic Probe made its fourth of seven scheduled Venus gravity assists on February 20, 2021.
The Vast-field Imager for Parker Photo voltaic Probe (WISPR) captured the picture of Venus through the Parker Photo voltaic Probe’s third go of the planet on July 11, 2020. The nightside of Venus is captured, and the intense edge might be nightglow, or gentle emitted by oxygen atoms excessive within the environment that recombine into molecules within the nightside. The massive darkish expanse close to the middle of Venus is Aphrodite Terra, a broad highland area on the floor. The spacecraft was 7,693 miles (12,380 km) away when it captured this picture.
The streaks seen within the picture are usually attributable to a wide range of objects, together with charged particles, daylight mirrored by grains of house mud, and particles of fabric expelled from the spacecraft after impression with the mud grains. The odd black spot close to the underside is an artifact of the WISPR instrument.
To see the total picture, together with Orion with its belt and well-known nebula close to the underside proper of the picture, go to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe webpage.
These gravity assists utilizing Venus, by the way in which, will set the Parker Photo voltaic Probe up for its eighth and ninth shut sweeps previous the solar, slated for April 29 and August 9, 2021. In all, the probe has 24 scheduled orbits across the solar throughout its seven-year mission. Throughout this time, NASA likes to say, the probe will “contact” the solar, that’s, fly inside the solar’s environment. Throughout every of its sweeps previous the solar, NASA said, the Parker Photo voltaic Probe will break its personal nearness data to the solar.
In the end, the Parker Photo voltaic Probe will come inside 4 million miles (6 million km) of the solar’s floor.
Backside line: Whereas utilizing Venus for a gravity help, the Parker Photo voltaic Probe turned its digicam on the planet and made this exceptional picture.