Multiple views of Venus’ clouds

This image is a composite of four different views of the Venusian cloud system. The images were acquired on 24 September 2006 by the Ultraviolet, Visible and Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board ESA’s Venus Express, from distances of about 65 000 kilometres (top left), 60 000 kilometres (top right), 53 000 kilometres (bottom left), 37 000 kilometres (bottom right) from the planet’s surface.

The images, showing a complex cloud system, were taken on the night-side of Venus (04:00 local time), at a wavelength of 1.7 micron that allows viewing the deep atmospheric layers.

The grey-scale of the images is such that white signifies more transparency, therefore less clouds, while darker or blacker regions represent opacity, or thicker clouds.