| Description: | The thick atmosphere of Venus almost entirely prevents viewing the surface, except in the radio regime. We were awarded time through the Opticon-RadioNet Pilot programme to search for connections between the surface and the clouds of Venus - do volcanoes and mountain winds influence the clouds, and maybe even provide materials to support aerial life? The radio part of our project includes LOFAR observations, seeking to measure the brightness temperature at the longest wavelength yet attempted. At 2 metres wavelength, LOFAR sees as deep as ~20m below the surface of Venus, tracing material that could have been laid down by active volcanoes. We aim to compare the first terrain observed (around the red X in the image) with other faces of Venus so see how influential volcanism is. |
