The middle clouds of Venus as observed on the evening side at 900-nm by the camera IR1 onboard JAXA's orbiter Akatsuki. This image was acquired the 1 of July of 2016, and it exhibits an example of the hemispherical asymmetry and sharp contrasts apparent on the albedo. Credits: JAXA.

The new research, published in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters, finds this middle layer of clouds shows a wide variety of cloud patterns that change over time and are very different from the upper layer of Venus's clouds, which are usually studied with ultraviolet images. The study also found changes in the albedo of the middle clouds, or how much sunlight they are reflecting back to space, which could indicate the presence of water, methane or other compounds absorbing solar radiation.

For more details, please visit the AGU site.