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Wheatley Crater, Venus
Photograph courtesy NASA
Wheatley Crater spreads over 45 miles (72 kilometers) of the Asteria Regio region of Venus. More than 1,000 large volcanic areas dot the surface of the planet, and volcanic flows have produced long, sinuous channels extending for hundreds of miles.
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Venus and Earth's Moon
Photograph courtesy NASA
Venus is visible above Earth's moon, which is illuminated solely by light reflected from Earth. Because of Venus's nearness to Earth and the way its clouds reflect sunlight, it appears to be the brightest planet in the night sky.
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Venus Cloud Patterns
Photograph courtesy JPL
The Galileo spacecraft snapped this colorized image of Venus in February 1990 at a range of almost 1.7 million miles (2.7 million kilometers). The sulfuric clouds swirling over the planet are akin to fair weather clouds on Earth.
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Venus in Shadow
Photograph courtesy L. Esposito (University of Colorado, Boulder), NASA
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped this image of Venus.
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Pioneer Venus Orbiter Image
Photograph courtesy NASA
The Pioneer Venus orbiter snapped this ultraviolet image of Venus in 1979. The planet's atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide. Only trace amounts of water are present.
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Nova on Venus
Photograph courtesy NASA
This Magellan image shows a nova in the Themis Regio region of Venus. About 155 miles (250 kilometers) in diameter, this nova—or radial network of fault-bordered depressions called grabens—is one of about 50 novae identified on Venus.
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