by Ann » Wed Jan 01, 2014 12:50 pm
It's a lovely picture, indeed.
As a color commentator, I'm struck by the contrast between the deep orange-red sunset sky and the brilliantly white, almost blue-white Venus crescent. Of course Venus ins't blue. Still, I would guess that Venus is a little bit less yellow in overall color than the Moon, even though Venus in itself appears to be yellowish-white, and yellower than the Sun.
Obviously Venus is brilliantly lit by the Sun. According to
this page, the albedo of Venus is 0.75 - that is, Venus reflects 75% of the sunlight that strikes it. The Moon, by comparison, reflects only 12% of the sunlight that reaches its surface. But on top of that, Venus is closer to the Sun, and so receives more sunlight per unit of its reflective "surface" than the Moon.
Ann
It's a lovely picture, indeed.
As a color commentator, I'm struck by the contrast between the deep orange-red sunset sky and the brilliantly white, almost blue-white Venus crescent. Of course Venus ins't blue. Still, I would guess that Venus is a little bit less yellow in overall color than the Moon, even though Venus in itself appears to be yellowish-white, and yellower than the Sun.
Obviously Venus is brilliantly lit by the Sun. According to [url=http://www.universetoday.com/36833/albedo-of-venus/]this page[/url], the albedo of Venus is 0.75 - that is, Venus reflects 75% of the sunlight that strikes it. The Moon, by comparison, reflects only 12% of the sunlight that reaches its surface. But on top of that, Venus is closer to the Sun, and so receives more sunlight per unit of its reflective "surface" than the Moon.
Ann