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Posted by: ncc1701d Jun 29 2013, 06:51 PM

Hello,
Anybody know off hand where I can find the raw non false colored nasa images taken of the Venus Clouds from past probes? I have seen some here and there on the internet but looking for the best original source that have not been tweaked or scaled or colored by others. thanks

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jun 29 2013, 08:58 PM

Google took me right here.

http://www.astrosurf.com/nunes/explor/explor_pvenus.htm

But the ultimaste archive in the National Space Science Data Center is here:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/datasetDisplay.do?id=PSPA-00346

Where you will learn that the data are archived as photographic negatives. The raw data are not available online, as far as I know. This was the world before the internet - or at least before universal access. As a very low science priority, it has never been put online.

Phil

Posted by: mcaplinger Jun 29 2013, 10:35 PM

Mariner 10 or Messenger flyby imaging is probably more accessible than PV data.
http://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/mess.html for Messenger.

Posted by: ncc1701d Jul 2 2013, 01:31 AM

QUOTE (mcaplinger @ Jun 29 2013, 10:35 PM)

Posted by: 4throck Dec 16 2016, 10:39 AM

Just to say that I've updated my astronomy page and some links have changed.

The Pioneer Venus images are now displayed with image number, code and date.
Processing is minimal, just histogram equalization of the scans.

There are a few more Pioneer Venus images online, but I've been unable to identify them.

http://www.astrosurf.com/nunes/explor_pvenus.html

Posted by: tedstryk Dec 18 2016, 01:41 PM

A big problem is that almost all the released imagery is from 1979-1980, despite the fact that PVO imaged Venus through most of the 1980s if not into the 1990s (I can't find any documentation of images being taken after 1988, but I can't find anything to suggest that they stopped either). With the exception of very poor reproductions of some 1985 images (bad photocopies), I've never seen anything beyond 1982. Between the Pioneer 10/11 digital data and PVO digital data (and any form of data from later in the mission), this is one of the biggest holes in the available record of planetary exploration. Even the Venera-9 orbiter dataset is easier to come by (although it is tiny).

Posted by: 4throck Dec 18 2016, 05:38 PM

I have a few more images I can add for completeness sake.
For example, this paper shows images 38 and 45:
http://eaps4.mit.edu/research/papers/Travis_etal_1979a.pdf

But again, the data if from early on the mission.

Posted by: JRehling Dec 28 2016, 05:27 PM

This is great, 4thRock. I've just had my first tries at photographing these details in UV from Earth, and I'll be back at it next summer, when Venus is better placed for Northern Hemisphere observers. Personally, I found that a clearer image comes from subtracting a visible-light image from the UV image, to reduce the information due to phase angle effects and emphasize the information due to the UV absorber. These PVO images were so great for their time and are still inspirational.

Posted by: rlorenz Jun 23 2018, 01:49 AM

More on other data than images, but still pertinent. My review of past claimed detections and nondetections of lightning on Venus is out in PEPS (Open Access)

https://rdcu.be/1iaR