This mosaic is composed of images taken by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board ESA’s Venus Express in July 2007, at a distance of about 65 000 km from the planet’s surface.

It shows a peak of the oxygen airglow (brightest parts in the image), a phenomenon visible in the upper atmosphere of Venus at night. The images were obtained at 1.27 micrometres.