The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high- resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. Venus is displayed in this simple cylindrical map of the planet's surface. The right and left edges of the image are at 240 degrees east longitude. The top and bottom of the image are at 90 degrees north latitude and 90 degrees south latitude, respectively. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics are mapped onto a rectangular latitude- longitude grid to create this image.
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. At the top, left of center, the bright region is Maxwell Montes, the highest mountain range on Venus. Extending along the equator to the right of center is Aphrodite Terra, a large highland region on Venus. The scattered dark patches in this image are halos surrounding some of the younger impact craters. This global data set reveals a number of craters consistent with an average Venus surface age of 300 million to 500 million years.