I love this synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) image, taken through the clouds of Venus by the Magellan spacecraft in 1991. Not new, but still a gem.
Venus by radar light
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I love this synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) image, taken through the clouds of Venus by the Magellan spacecraft in 1991. Not new, but still a gem.
Scientific Gems 
Thank you for sharing this image. It is beautiful. I have a question that I would like to ask, but the more I read, I fear I may not be able to understand the answer. In looking closer at the image, I found interesting either voids of information or deformations of the data across the surface of the image. What is the cause for this? Is it a method of protection of the image? Is it caused by the path of the probe?
I am purely a lay person from your perspective, as I am a clergyperson, but I am curious about things that I notice.
Thank you for your patience.
Well-spotted! There are indeed “voids” in the data. As far as I know, this is due to information from Magellan not being received here on Earth part of the time. One reason for that is the Sun getting in the way.
Thanks for commenting.
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