Abstract
PREVIOUS extended observations1 of Venus at 10-cm wave-length have given evidence for only a small variation in the mean disk equivalent black-body temperature TBB with Venus phase angle i. These observations were made during a period surrounding inferior conjunction, and did not extend to small phase angles. Thus the disk temperature for small i could be inferred only from an uncomfortably large extrapolation of the uncertain function TBB (i) derived from data containing significant random, and perhaps systematic, errors. These circumstances have made it desirable to observe Venus, if possible, near superior conjunction. This is difficult because Venus is then at maximum distance, leading to minimum signal-to-noise ratios, and the planet also appears close to the Sun, a powerful radiator which can contaminate the observations by introducing significant radiation into the antenna side-lobes.
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DRAKE, F. 10-cm Observations of Venus near Superior Conjunction. Nature 195, 894 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/195894a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/195894a0
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