This is not the only Venus flyby this week.Venus up closeJust recently, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter passed very close to Venus.The probe flew by the surface at a distance of just 4,967 miles. A stunning series of images was captured by the telescope.Glare in the DarkThis short clip shows Venus' dark side. It faces away from Sun in the form of a dark circular region. The Sun can be seen to the right of the camera, brightly lighting the scene.In a NASA statement Phillip Hess, an astrophysicist at NASA's Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., stated that we should have been able resolve some features on planet nightside. However, there was too much signal from dayside.AdvertisementAdvertisementHe said that only a small portion of the dayside is visible in the photos, but it reflects enough sun to create the bright crescent and diffracted rays which seem to be coming from the surface.Accelerating your speedThis was the Solar Orbiters' second Venus flyby. If everything goes according to plan, it will make another flyby of Earth and six additional Venus flybys between 2022-2030.It uses the planet's gravity to propel itself closer to its Sun. This is why it keeps coming so close. The spacecraft's orbit will eventually allow it to see the Suns south and north poles for the first time.Coincidentally, this week the ESA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys' (JAXA), BepiColombo probe made a flyby Venus. The ESA shared stunning footage of the spacecraft spinning past Venus as it made its long journey towards Mercury.AdvertisementAdvertisementThat's because it is not every week we see two different glimpses at a distant place.READ MORE: During Close Pass, Solar Orbiter Captures Venus Glare [NASA]More about Venus: Researchers: Are There Signs of Life in Venus? Explosive Volcanoes Actually Exist
