Scientists release first images of Venus south pole

European scientists today released the first photos of Venus’ south pole from their orbiting Venus Express spacecraft, revealing a swirling twist of cloud that closely resembles cloud formations around the more familiar north pole.

The image, taken from a distance of roughly 125,000 miles and released by the European Space Agency, shows pale yellow clouds ribbed with darker spirals and a dark vortex.

“We can see there is a twister here that is similar to that which we know from the north pole,” said Horst Uwe Keller, who leads the team operating the craft’s wide-angle, multichannel camera – one of seven instruments aboard the Venus Express.

The images were taken yesterday, one day after Venus Express went into orbit around the planet.

ESA said they were the first pictures of the planet’s south pole, which is turned away from Earth.