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Venus

The second planet from the Sun and one of the brightest objects in Earth’s night sky. Venus is often visible near sunrise or sunset and is commonly referred to as the 'morning star' or 'evening star.'

Source: solarsystem.nasa.gov

APODs including "Venus"

A Radar Image of Venus

15/05/2001

A Radar Image of Venus
Image Credit: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

The largest radio telescopes in the world are working together to create a new map of the surface of Venus. The surface of Venus is unusually hidden by a thick atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide gas. These thick clouds are transparent, however, to radar signals sent and received from Earth. The two radio telescopes generating the most powerful radar ever are the Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico and the new Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The new survey will resolve details as fine a one-kilometer across, and will be inspected for changes since the last major radar map was made by NASA's Magellan spacecraft that orbited Venus from 1990 to 1994. Pictured above is part of a preliminary image showing details as small as five-kilometers across.