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Earth-Moon observations from Venus Express
November 29, 2005A recent check of the VIRTIS imaging spectrometer during the Venus Express commissioning phase has allowed its first remote-sensing data to be acquired, using Earth and the Moon as a reference.
After a successful in-flight checkout of the spacecraft's systems in the first ten days of flight, the ESOC operations team is now verifying the health and functioning of all the Venus Express instruments. These observations were made as part of this checkout.
Of course the very large distance that Venus Express has travelled since its launch makes these images of limited interest to the general public, but to the scientific team it confirms the excellent operation of their instrument.
This gives them confidence of spectacular results when the spacecraft reaches Venus where similar measurements will be made hundreds times closer.
Only two weeks after the launch, VIRTIS, the Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared mapping spectrometer, has been able to make its first planetary observations, capturing the Earth-Moon system.
"The observations were made from 3.5 million kilometres away, with a phase angle of 65 degrees, meaning that 65% of Earth's disk was illuminated by the Sun, providing observations of both the day and night sides of Earth," explains Guiseppe Piccioni, one of the two Principal Investigators (PI).
These Earth observations will be used to test the instrument on a real planetary case, before Venus approach.
"A comparison of Venus spectra with Earth spectra with the same instrument will also be of interest for textbook illustration of the comparison between the two planets," explained Pierre Drossart, the other PI.
The Moon has also been observed, providing additional observations of particular interest for calibrating the intrument.
The VIRTIS instrument on Venus Express is a twin of the same instrument on Rosetta, and similar observations were sent back by Rosetta in March 2005, so comparisons of the two sets of observations will be very useful for calibration purposes.
The VIRTIS instrument is led jointly by INAF-IASF, Rome, Italy, and Observatoire de Paris, France.
European Space Agency
Only two weeks after the launch, VIRTIS, the Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared mapping spectrometer, has been able to make its first planetary observations, capturing the Earth-Moon system.
"The observations were made from 3.5 million kilometres away, with a phase angle of 65 degrees, meaning that 65% of Earth's disk was illuminated by the Sun, providing observations of both the day and night sides of Earth," explains Guiseppe Piccioni, one of the two Principal Investigators (PI).
These Earth observations will be used to test the instrument on a real planetary case, before Venus approach.
"A comparison of Venus spectra with Earth spectra with the same instrument will also be of interest for textbook illustration of the comparison between the two planets," explained Pierre Drossart, the other PI.
The Moon has also been observed, providing additional observations of particular interest for calibrating the intrument.
The VIRTIS instrument on Venus Express is a twin of the same instrument on Rosetta, and similar observations were sent back by Rosetta in March 2005, so comparisons of the two sets of observations will be very useful for calibration purposes.
The VIRTIS instrument is led jointly by INAF-IASF, Rome, Italy, and Observatoire de Paris, France.
European Space Agency
Venus Express Current Events and Venus Express News RSSNew map hints at Venus's wet, volcanic past
Venus Express has charted the first map of Venus's southern hemisphere at infrared wavelengths. The new map hints that our neighbouring world may once have been more Earth-like, with both, a plate tectonics system and an ocean of water.
Where did Venus's water go?
Venus Express has made the first detection of an atmospheric loss process on Venus's day-side. Last year, the spacecraft revealed that most of the lost atmosphere escapes from the night-side.
Venus comes to life at wavelengths invisible to human eyes
A pale yellow-green dot to the human eye, Earth's twin planet comes to life in the ultraviolet and the infrared. New images taken by instruments on board ESA's Venus Express provide insight into the turbulent atmosphere of our neighbouring planet.
Key molecule discovered in Venus's atmosphere
Venus Express has detected the molecule hydroxyl on another planet for the first time. This detection gives scientists an important new tool to unlock the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere.
Plan to identify watery Earth-like planets develops
Astronomers are looking to identify Earth-like watery worlds circling distant stars from a glint of light seen through an optical space telescope and a mathematical method developed by researchers at Penn State and the University of Hawaii.
Venus Express reboots the search for active volcanoes on Venus
ESA's Venus Express has measured a highly variable quantity of the volcanic gas sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus. Scientists must now decide whether this is evidence for active volcanoes on Venus, or linked to a hitherto unknown mechanism affecting the upper atmosphere.
Mars and Venus are surprisingly similar
Using two ESA spacecraft, planetary scientists are watching the atmospheres of Mars and Venus being stripped away into space. The simultaneous observations by Mars Express and Venus Express give scientists the data they need to investigate the evolution of the two planets' atmospheres.
The light and dark of Venus
Venus Express has revealed a planet of extraordinarily changeable and extremely large-scale weather. Bright hazes appear in a matter of days, reaching from the south pole to the low southern latitudes and disappearing just as quickly.
Basque Country University researchers publish two articles in Nature on latest discoveries on Venus
Nature journal has published a series of articles devoted to the new discoveries by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express space probe made on our neighbouring planet.
Setting stars reveal planetary secrets
Watching the stars set from the surface of the Earth may be a romantic pastime but when a spacecraft does it from orbit, it can reveal hidden details about a planet's atmosphere.
More Venus Express Current Events and Venus Express News Articles
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