Evolution of oxygen airglow at Venus

This video shows the way the oxygen airglow visible on Venus’ night side evolves over time, as seen by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board ESA’s Venus Express.

The single images composing the video were obtained at 1.27-micrometre wavelength in August 2006, when the spacecraft was flying at about 65 000 km distance from the planet.