Some Preliminary Results of the 70‐cm Radar Studies of Venus

Delay‐Doppler positions of three radar features are given for observations made during the 1964, 1967, and 1969 inferior conjunctions of Venus. The latitude and longitude of each feature were determined from these data by the method of weighted least squares. The results indicate that the rotation period of Venus may be slightly smaller than the earth‐synchronous period of 243.16 days. Some preliminary measurements of the polarized and cross‐polarized scattering properties of the average surface and the anomalous features are given. These data indicate that the bulk of the surface of Venus is significantly smoother than the moon and that at least two anomalous features give larger ratios of cross‐polarized to polarized power than any features known on the moon.