In searching for craters on Venus, "We had been looking for big holes in the ground," Hansen said in a statement.And indeed, about 1,000 craters on Venus are already known.

Three impact craters are displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus taken by NASA’s Magellan, the first deep space probe launched by a space shuttle.

The active crater sits high on Maat Mons, one of Venus’ largest volcanoes whose summit is 5 km above the surrounding plains. Maat Mons.

Because Venus lacks tectonic activity, it should be covered by old impact craters, but when scientists count these features, they find that the planet's surface looks quite young. You may like ...

Because of this, Venus also has a large amount of craters in "pristine" condition. This photo, taken by Magellan, shows a three-dimensional colored view of a crater farm on the planet’s surface. 4.

The low number of craters on Venus indicates that geologic processes may be recycling aged landscapes into pockets of fresh ground. From the crater density, ...

Three impact craters are displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus created with data from the probe Magellan. Visible are the Aglaonice, Howe and Danilova craters.

For decades, the relatively unblemished surface of Venus has distinguished it from nearby planets and moons, including Earth. Mars, for instance, and Earth’s moon, bear the craggy scars and craters ...