Word: maats
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Dates: during 1991-1991
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...most stunning image is of Venus' second tallest mountain, Maat Mons, which rises 8 km (5 miles). Most of the planet's many peaks, including 9.5-km- (6-mile-) high Maxwell Montes, look bright in the radar pictures Magellan takes from its orbit above the perpetual cloud cover. That means they are strong reflectors of radar waves. But Maat Mons is dark; like the Stealth bomber, it absorbs much of the radar falling...
...mountain has recently been covered with lava. Rock that sits on the surface of mountaintops appears to weather quickly in the hot, chemically reactive atmosphere, creating a soil that is rich in iron sulfide. It is this mineral, the scientists believe, that shows up easily on radar. If Maat Mons doesn't have any, it has presumably been resurfaced, perhaps within the past few years...
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