NASA Space Probe Unexpectedly Glimpses The Surface of Venus in Stunning New First

New images recorded by NASA's Parker Solar Probe have revealed the red-hot glow of Venus's surface radiating through its shroud of toxic clouds – a finding that could help us better understand the minerals making up this rocky and mysterious planet.
Using data from the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, scientists were able to peer beneath the planet's thick atmosphere, discovering geological features such as highlands, plateaus, and plains.

"Venus is the third brightest thing in the sky, but until recently we have not had much information on what the surface looked like because our view of it is blocked by a thick atmosphere," says astrophysicist and WISPR team member Brian Wood of the US Naval Research Laboratory.

"Now, we finally are seeing the surface in visible wavelengths for the first time from space."

Although relatively close to Earth, Venus has proven very difficult to study. It's known as Earth's "evil twin", because, while similar to Earth in size, mass, structure, and composition, it's deeply hostile to life.

Earth is temperate and wet; Venus is dry and possibly volcanic, with surface temperatures averaging 471 degrees Celsius (880 degrees Fahrenheit).

Venus's sky is filled with thick, toxic clouds that rain sulfuric acid. These features make the planet difficult to investigate up close. Landers have been sent; they kind of end up melting. And those suffocating clouds make external observations of the surface, not impossible, but tricky.