Photometry of Venus from Mariner 10
Photometry of the upper atmosphere of Venus from Mariner 10 on February 5, 1974 is discussed with respect to in-flight verification of camera linearity, shading, and absolute photometric calibration. Among photometric results are the following: (1) temporal brightness variations were observed in the UV greater than 10% over a few hours due to the rapid rotation of the upper atmosphere, (2) the observed terminator was 4 degrees past the geometric terminator due to detached haze layers at altitudes around 85 km, (3) there were no indications of cloud top elevation variations greater than a few hunderd meters, and (4) in the UV, the bright and dark regions both had low albedos in all scales, showing that the UV absorber is not confined just to dark markings.