Credit where credit is due:

We downloaded this amazing picture of Venus from the JPL Venus WebPage. JPL maintains a really outstanding website, which is definitely worth checking out.

The story behind the image:

Those of you familiar with Venus might think it odd that its color is blue here. Without filters, Venus typically appears red. A violet filter was used in producing this picture because such a filter makes it easier to discern more subtle cloud patterns. The bluish color of Venus in this picture is a byproduct of applying the filter. This seemed to fit in pretty well with the nature of what VNUS Information Services, Inc. is all about―helping you find interesting information in your data.