This global view of the surface of Venus is centered at 180 degrees east
longitude. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics from the first cycle of
Magellan mapping are mapped onto a computer-simulated globe to create this
image. Data gaps are filled with Pioneer Venus Orbiter data, or a constant
mid-range value. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structure. The
simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14
spacecraft. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization project and
the Magellan science team at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory
and is a single frame from a video released at the October 29, 1991, JPL news
conference. It is important to note that Venus is completely shrouded in clouds.
