Venus in a New Light (The second planet closest to the Sun in our solar system.)
Description: Chandra's unique capabilities provided astronomers with their first look at Venus in X-ray light. The image shows a half crescent due to the relative orientation of the Sun, Earth and Venus. The X-rays from Venus are produced by fluorescent radiation from oxygen and other atoms in the atmosphere between 120 and 140 kilometers above the surface of the planet. In contrast, the light we see from Venus in the night sky is caused by the reflection of sunlight from clouds 50 to 70 kilometers above the surface. X-ray images of Venus will enable scientists to explore regions of the Venusian atmosphere that are difficult to investigate otherwise.
Creator/Photographer: Chandra X-ray Observatory
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed. Chandra is helping scientists better understand the hot, turbulent regions of space and answer fundamental questions about origin, evolution, and destiny of the Universe. The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Medium: Chandra telescope x-ray
Date: 2001
Persistent URL: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/venus/
Repository: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Collection: Solar System Collection
Gift line: NASA/MPE/K.Dennerl et al.
Accession number: Venus_xray
Venus in a New Light (The second planet closest to the Sun in our solar system.)
Description: Chandra's unique capabilities provided astronomers with their first look at Venus in X-ray light. The image shows a half crescent due to the relative orientation of the Sun, Earth and Venus. The X-rays from Venus are produced by fluorescent radiation from oxygen and other atoms in the atmosphere between 120 and 140 kilometers above the surface of the planet. In contrast, the light we see from Venus in the night sky is caused by the reflection of sunlight from clouds 50 to 70 kilometers above the surface. X-ray images of Venus will enable scientists to explore regions of the Venusian atmosphere that are difficult to investigate otherwise.
Creator/Photographer: Chandra X-ray Observatory
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed. Chandra is helping scientists better understand the hot, turbulent regions of space and answer fundamental questions about origin, evolution, and destiny of the Universe. The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Medium: Chandra telescope x-ray
Date: 2001
Persistent URL: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/venus/
Repository: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Collection: Solar System Collection
Gift line: NASA/MPE/K.Dennerl et al.
Accession number: Venus_xray