Parker Solar Probe Imaging of the Night Side of Venus

Wood, Brian E.; Hess, Phillip; Lustig‐Yaeger, Jacob; Gallagher, Brendan; Korwan, Daniel; Rich, N.; Stenborg, G.; Thernisien, A.; Qadri, Syed N.; Santiago, Freddie; Peralta, Javier; Arney, Giada; Izenberg, N. R.; Vourlidas, A.; Linton, M. G.; Howard, R. A.; Raouafi, N. E.

doi:10.1029/2021gl096302

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…Amateur observations can play an important role especially when used complementary to professional ones. Moreover, systematic monitoring by amateurs can trigger, and of course, support coordinated observing campaigns, such as the next campaigns of observations coordinated with Akatsuki (http://pvol2.ehu.eus/bc/Venus/, accessed on 15 February 2021) of Venus flybys of NASA's PARKER [49] on 21 August 2023 and 6 November 2024. The professional-amateur collaboration offers an invaluable resource in the advance of our understanding of the atmosphere of Venus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Kardasis¹,

Peralta

Maravelias

et al. 2022

Atmosphere

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Firstly identified in images from JAXA’s orbiter Akatsuki , the cloud discontinuity of Venus is a planetary-scale phenomenon known to be recurrent since, at least, the 1980s. Interpreted as a new type of Kelvin wave, this disruption is associated to dramatic changes in the clouds’ opacity and distribution of aerosols, and it may constitute a critical piece for our understanding of the thermal balance and atmospheric circulation of Venus. Here, we report its reappearance on the dayside middle clouds four years after its last detection with Akatsuki /IR1, and for the first time, we characterize its main properties using exclusively near-infrared images from amateur observations. In agreement with previous reports, the discontinuity exhibited temporal variations in its zonal speed, orientation, length, and its effect over the clouds’ albedo during the 2019/2020 eastern elongation. Finally, a comparison with simultaneous observations by Akatsuki UVI and LIR confirmed that the discontinuity is not visible on the upper clouds’ albedo or thermal emission, while zonal speeds are slower than winds at the clouds’ top and faster than at the middle clouds, evidencing that this Kelvin wave might be transporting momentum up to upper clouds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Kardasis¹,

Peralta

Maravelias

et al. 2022

Atmosphere

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“…In Vourlidas et al (2016) the WISPR-I and WISPR-O passbands were given as 490-740 nm and 475-725 nm, respectively. However, in a recent study of the WISPR detectors' response to the Venus nightglow, Wood et al (2022) found that their sensitivity (although reduced) extended farther into the red, up to 800 nm (for both telescopes). The angular fields of view (FOVs) are 40°and 50°elongation in the radial direction for WISPR-I and WISPR-O, respectively.…”

Section: Observations and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Most recently, Stenborg et al (2022) showed that a dust depletion zone exists, beginning at ∼19 R e and ending at ∼5 R e , at which point the dust-free zone begins. Other significant observations using WISPR have been the observations of the surface of Venus (Wood et al 2022), of dust in the orbit of comet/asteroid 3200 Phaethon (Battams et al 2020), of excess dust along the orbit of Venus (Stenborg et al 2021), of CMEs (Rouillard et al 2020;Hess et al 2020;Liewer et al 2021;Wood et al 2021;, and of fine-scale structure in coronal streamers (Poirier et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of the Remote Sensing Observations from PSP Solar Encounter 10 with Perihelion at 13.3 R _⊙

Howard

Stenborg

Vourlidas

et al. 2022

ApJ

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The closest perihelion pass of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), so far, occurred between 2021 November 16 and 26 and reached ∼13.29 R ☉ from Sun center. This pass resulted in very unique observations of the solar corona by the Wide-field Instrument for Solar PRobe (WISPR). WISPR observed at least 10 coronal mass ejections (CMEs), some of which were so close that the structures appear distorted. All of the CMEs appeared to have a magnetic flux rope (MFR) structure, and most were oriented such that the view was along the axis orientation, revealing very complex interiors. Two CMEs had a small MFR develop in the interior, with a bright circular boundary surrounding a very dark interior. Trailing the larger CMEs were substantial outflows of small blobs and flux-rope-like structures within striated ribbons, lasting for many hours. When the heliospheric plasma sheet was inclined, as it was during the days around perihelion on 2021 November 21, the outflow was over a very wide latitude range. One CME was overtaken by a faster one, with a resultant compression of the rear of the leading CME and an unusual expansion in the trailing CME. The small Thomson surface creates brightness variations of structures as they pass through the field of view. In addition to this dynamic activity, a brightness band from excess dust along the orbit of asteroid/comet 3200 Phaethon is also seen for several days.

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“…These reports were dismissed as optical illusions (e.g., Sheehan et al 2014). However, glimpsing some thermal emission from the night side (Sheehan et al 2014) or O2 airglow at wavelengths of ~0.45-0.55 μm with the human eye is perhaps possible (Wood et al 2022). Until the mid-20th century, observations of Venus had not advanced much from prehistory.…”

Section: Pre-1920s Views Of Modern Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, PSP returned some of the most striking images of Venus ever taken at visible wavelengths (Figure 3). During flybys of Venus in 2020 and 2021, the Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) observed the nightside of Venus (Wood et al 2022). WISPER was designed to study the solar wind at wavelengths from ~0.5-0.8 μm.…”

Section: Parker Solar Probementioning

confidence: 99%

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet

O’Rourke

Wilson

Borrelli

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Venus is the planet in the Solar System most similar to Earth in terms of size and (probably) bulk composition. Until the mid-20th century, scientists thought that Venus was a verdant world-inspiring science-fictional stories of heroes battling megafauna in sprawling jungles. At the start of the Space Age, people learned that Venus actually has a hellish surface, baked by the greenhouse effect under a thick, CO2-rich atmosphere. In popular culture, Venus was demoted from a jungly playground to (at best) a metaphor for the redemptive potential of extreme adversity. However, whether Venus was much different in the past than it is today remains unknown. In this review, we show how now-popular models for the evolution of Venus mirror how the scientific understanding of modern Venus has changed over time. Billions of years ago, Venus could have had a clement surface with water oceans. Venus perhaps then underwent at least one dramatic transition in atmospheric, surface, and interior conditions before present day. This review kicks off a topical collection about all aspects of Venus's evolution and how understanding Venus can teach us about other planets, including exoplanets. Here we provide the general background and motivation required to delve into the other manuscripts in this collection. Finally, we discuss how our ignorance about the evolution of Venus motivated the prioritization of new spacecraft missions that will essentially rediscover Earth's nearest planetary neighbor-beginning a new age of Venus exploration.

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Parker Solar Probe Imaging of the Night Side of Venus

Cited by 15 publications

References 41 publications

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Overview of the Remote Sensing Observations from PSP Solar Encounter 10 with Perihelion at 13.3 R _⊙

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet

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Parker Solar Probe Imaging of the Night Side of Venus

Cited by 15 publications

References 41 publications

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Amateur Observers Witness the Return of Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity

Overview of the Remote Sensing Observations from PSP Solar Encounter 10 with Perihelion at 13.3 R ⊙

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet

Contact Info

Product

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Overview of the Remote Sensing Observations from PSP Solar Encounter 10 with Perihelion at 13.3 R _⊙