Venus phase function and forward scattering from H2SO4

Ground-based and spacecraft photometry covering phase angles from 2 degrees to 179 degrees has been acquired in wavelength bands from blue to near infrared. An unexpected brightness surge is seen in the B and V bands when the disk of Venus is less than 2% illuminated. This excess luminosity appears to be the result of forward scattering from droplets of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) in the high atmosphere of Venus. The fully sunlit brightness of Venus, adjusted to a distance of one AU from the Sun and observer, was found to be V = -4.38, and the corresponding geometric albedo is 67%. The phase integral is 1.35 and the resulting spherical albedo is 90%. Comparison between our data and photometry obtained over the past 50 years indicates a bias in the older photoelectric results, however atmospheric abundance variations suggest that brightness changes may have occurred too. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.