False-colour image of the Aine Corona on Venus, recorded by the Magellan radar-mapping spacecraft in January 1991. The corona is the large circular st

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False-colour image of the Aine Corona on Venus, recorded by the Magellan radar-mapping spacecraft in January 1991. The corona is the large circular structure. About 200km across, it is located in the southern Aphrodite Terra continent. The corona is thought to have formed following an up- swelling of the surface due to rising magma. When the magma retreated, the surface collapsed to form the concentric lines of ridges & faults. The 'pancake' domes at the top & left edges of the corona were formed by eruption of viscous lava. The well-defined faults in the top right corner are often associated with coronae, & are created when lava flows follow existing fracture patterns.

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Size: 4843px × 3745px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: aine, aphrodite, astronomy, corona, cosmology, imagery, magellan, planet, planetary, science, surface, terra, venus, volcanism