The planet Venus (illustration).
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JAXA
Nasa published on Instagram a photo of Venus taken in July 2020 by the Parker solar space probe on Instagram.
The machine was launched in August 2018 to "unravel the mysteries of the atmosphere of the Sun," said the US agency on its site.
To do this, the probe will fly over Venus seven times in seven years, using the planet's gravity to get closer to our main star.
The image shows previously unseen details,
RTL
says
.
NASA astronomers have annotated the photo to highlight the notable elements that appear there.
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Unpublished details
Specialists have believed that the aura that is lighter than space around the planet is a luminous phenomenon caused by oxygen atoms.
These are at a high altitude and come together again to form molecules in the shadow of Venus.
The image captured by the Parker also shows a dark spot covering part of the planet's surface.
This is Aphrodite Terra, the largest high land of Venus.
The temperature there is lower than that of the surrounding areas, causing the color difference visible in the photo.
Ultimately, the Parker probe will approach the Sun a little over six million kilometers away, or seven times closer than any other craft before it.
For comparison, the average distance separating the Earth from the Sun is 150 million kilometers.
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