APOD: 2021 February 25 - A Venus Flyby

Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Thursday, February is titled "A Venus Flyby" from the Parker Solar Probe

Image: A Venus Flyby - Image Credit - NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Guillermo Stenborg and Brendan Gallagher

The LORD created the heavens and HE blesses men and women with skill and wisdom to solve complex issues and develop technologies that bless many.
APOD background
"Explanation: On a mission to explore the inner heliosphere and solar corona, on July 11, 2020 the Wide-field Imager on board NASA's Parker Solar Probe captured this stunning view of the nightside of Venus at distance of about 12,400 kilometers (7,693 miles). The spacecraft was making the third of seven gravity-assist flybys of the inner planet. The gravity-asssist flybys are designed to use the approach to Venus to help the probe alter its orbit to ultimately come within 6 million kilometers (4 million miles) of the solar surface in late 2025. A surprising image, the side-looking camera seems to peer through the clouds to show a dark feature near the center known as Aphrodite Terra, the largest highland region on the Venusian surface. The bright rim at the edge of the planet is nightglow likely emitted by excited oxygen atoms recombining into molecules in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Bright streaks and blemishes throughout the image are likely due to energetic charged particles, and dust near the camera reflecting sunlight. Skygazers from planet Earth probably recognize the familiar stars of Orion's belt and sword at lower right."


Loey Nelson - Venus Kissed the Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqbygFZjNR8
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What an interesting and exciting APOD this morning, Maj William W. 'Bill' Price and good morning to you... During this recent Flyby I am sure there are some great images of Planet Venus, but more importantly, what we find out about our SUN from it mission will certainly help us understand more about our solar system... Have a great Day my friend!

Got to be a big land feature to see it from 7K+ miles away -- even in black and white, space doesn't disappoint