Observing Venus From a Balloon Platform

Ohio Aerospace InstituteCleveland, Ohio

Venus Investigations• Venus volcanism from emissivity mapping

at near infrared wavelengths, following Smrekar et al.

• Detection of optical signature of lightning• Investigation of the night side circulation of

the lower and middle cloud level• Investigation of the day side circulation of

Venus• Detection of airglow

Observations

• Imaging cube 1 – 2.5 µ @ ~ 0.1 arcsec• Multispectral imaging 270 – 1300 nm with

~ 50 nm resolution at selected ranges• Lightning Detection @ 773 nm•

Hot spots associated with topography and high emmmissivity, recent volcanism

Global view of the hemispheric Venus vortex on the day and night side from VIRTIS during insertion orbit

New result from Venus Express VMC Camera

images: Asymmetric structure

Discovery of O3, OH, Detection of CO2 isotopologues: 12C16O16O, 12C16O17O, 12C16O18O

Continued detection of “whistlers”

VIRTIS Magellan SAR

VMC 1000 nm image composiite view of surface

Recent…. MESSENGER Fly-by• Messenger Flyby – 2006 & 2007 – tested instruments for

Mercury

Filtered MDIS Image (558 nm)

MDIS 630 nm

Visible and Infrared Observations of Venus

Test Fired the Laser Altimeter from > 200 km at Venus (1032 nm)