PIA00261: Venus - Volcanos in Guinevere Planitia
 Target Name:  Venus
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Magellan
 Spacecraft:  Magellan
 Instrument:  Imaging Radar
 Product Size:  2600 x 2400 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P40286
 Addition Date:  1996-03-14
 Primary Data Set:  Magellan MIDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00261.tif (5.305 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00261.jpg (2.441 MB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image, with radar illumination from west to east, shows three unusual volcanoes located in the Guinevere Planitia lowland. At the center of the image is a large feature (50 kilometers or 31 miles in diameter) with an unusual shape; very round when viewed from above with steep slides and a flat top. These volcanoes are believed to be the result of relatively thick and sticky (viscous) lava flows that originated from a point source. Although a faint remnant of its original circular shape is preserved, the northern rim of this center volcano has a steep scarp. The scarp is probably the result of material that has slid away from the volcano and subsequently has been covered by lava flows. This volcano overlaps another feature to the southwest that is about 45 kilometers (28 miles) in diameter and disrupted by many fractures. The southeastern volcano (25 kilometers or 15.5 miles in diameter) appears to be the highest of the three as its illuminated western edge has the brightest radar return. The scalloped edges give this feature a bottlecap-like appearance. The highly scalloped edges are probably the result of multiple material slides along the volcano margin.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1996-03-14