ALMA Image of Venus (IMAGE)

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

ALMA Image of Venus

Caption

ALMA image of Venus, superimposed with spectra of phosphine observed with ALMA (in white) and JCMT (in grey). As molecules of phosphine float in the high clouds of Venus, they absorb some of the millimeter waves that are produced at lower altitudes. When observing the planet in the millimeter wavelength range, astronomers can pick up this phosphine absorption signature in their data as a dip in the light from the planet.

Credit

ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Greaves et al. & JCMT (East Asian Observatory)

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