PVO VENUS MAG: Pioneer Venus Orbiter Magnetometer 24-Second Averages

Magnetic field vectors collected by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Pioneer 12) magnetometer, averaged over 24 seconds on 12-second centers. The data are provided in spacecraft coordinates, with the Z axis aligned antiparallel to the spacecraft spin axis, which was initially oriented roughly toward Earth's ecliptic north pole and later moved to the pole of the Venus orbital plane. The dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling Venus's magnetic environment based on averaged magnetometer readings.
• Analyzing solar wind interaction with Venus based on spacecraft coordinate vector data.
• Studying spacecraft attitude effects on measurements based on the described spin axis orientation changes.

Strengths

• Data originates from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter mission, a primary source for Venus exploration.
• Vectors are averaged over 24 seconds on 12-second centers, which may provide a consistent temporal resolution.
• Documentation includes specific details on spacecraft coordinate system and spin axis orientation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count, file formats, and sample data are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Pioneer 12) Magnetometer instrument.

Time Range

Covers the operational period of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 06:49:25.180933; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Orbit of Venus.