Astro-image of the day: newest Venus image

Here's an amazing shot courtesy of the ESA and radar images from NASA's Magellan spacecraft:

Click the image to see the story.

Had to share this gorgeous image. Perhaps even more amazing and beautiful is this image of the solar wind flowing around Venus:

Click the image to see the story. To see animated movie of the violence, go here.

What you're seeing is the upper atmosphere of Venus being ionized and ripped away by the plasma storms pouring out of the Sun, strewn into space "behind" the planet in a long tail not unlike a comet's tail. The Earth is safe from such devastation because we have a huge magnetic field protecting us.

Chris

Astro-image of the day: newest Venus image

Here's an amazing shot courtesy of the ESA and radar images from NASA's Magellan spacecraft:

Click the image to see the story.

Had to share this gorgeous image. Perhaps even more amazing and beautiful is this image of the solar wind flowing around Venus:

Click the image to see the story. To see animated movie of the violence, go here.

What you're seeing is the upper atmosphere of Venus being ionized and ripped away by the plasma storms pouring out of the Sun, strewn into space "behind" the planet in a long tail not unlike a comet's tail. The Earth is safe from such devastation because we have a huge magnetic field protecting us.

Chris