Indications of volcanic activity on Venus 8 April 2010 DLR
scientists evaluate data from the VIRTIS infrared spectrometer
3-D radar image of the Maat Mons volcano on Venus Although some
uncertainty remains, the most recent infrared data from VIRTIS
(Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) seem to
confirm it. "We are pretty sure that Venus still has volcanic
activity," say Jörn Helbert and Nils Müller from the DLR
Institute of Planetary Research (Institut für Planetenforschung)
– members of the VIRTIS team. The European Space Agency's (ESA)
Venus Express orbiter has been circling the planet, which is
constantly obscured by thick cloud cover, since 11 April 2006.
The spacecraft travels around the planet in an elliptical orbit
at an altitude that varies from 300 to 66 000 kilometres. It
carries VIRTIS, the only instrument that can look through the
atmospheric windows onto the surface of Venus and record its
infrared radiation patterns at a variety of heights. "At certain
infrared ranges we can clearly