THE TWILIGHT ATMOSPHERE OF VENUS,

Abstract

An investigation of the discrepancies between the theoretically predicted and the actually observed shape and periodic appearance of Venus. Current astronomical methods of observation of the twilight sky of Venus are investigated by combining a rigorous celestial geometry with a determination of the physical effects exerted by the relative luminances of the atmospheres of Venus and the Earth. Analysis shows that the discrepancy between the expected and observed times of dichotomy corresponds to a range in position angle from about 92 to 98 degrees, which implies a minimum height of the effectively scattering atmosphere from 13 to 23 km. There are indications that the true height may be several tens of kilometers.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1967
Accession Number
AD0656307

Entities

People

  • G. F. Schilling
  • R. C. Moore

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Geometry
  • Luminance
  • Observation
  • Optical Phenomena
  • Optical Properties
  • Scattering
  • Twilight
  • Wave Phenomena

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Spectroscopy.
  • Theoretical Analysis.