It may have taken five years for Japan's 'dawn' probe to rise again, but already, the mission is proving worthwhile.

Last week, the Akatsuki probe presented its first scientific results since it was rescued from orbit around the sun and sent back to Venus.

Among the new data is an incredible image of Venus' acidic clouds and a strange 'bow' shape in the planet's atmosphere that has baffled scientists.

Scroll down for video

Last week, the Akatsuki probe presented its first scientific results since it was rescued from orbit around the sun and sent back to Venus. Among the new data is an incredible image of Venus' acidic clouds (left) and a strange 'bow' shape in the planet's atmosphere that has baffled scientists (right)

The dense layers within Venus sulphuric acid clouds seen in the image suggest that Venus' cloud formation is more complicated than thought, according to a report in Nature.

The image was captured from 62,000 miles (100,000km).

'We will achieve better spatial resolution still,' said Takehiko Satoh, principal investigator for the probe's 2-micrometre infrared camera, IR2, which took the image and presented it in Oxford.

'We promise to give a fantastic data set to the research community for years.'

Meanwhile, a set of thermal images shows a bow shape in the planet atmosphere.

Akatsuki, which means 'dawn' in Japanese, is using five cameras and a radio instrument to study the planet's atmosphere (pictured is an illustration showing the craft approaching Venus)

Nature says the moving cloud formation 'seemed to rotate with Venus's surface, rather than with its much quicker-moving atmosphere.'

VENUS AND ITS ATMOSPHERE Venus is the second planet from the sun, orbiting at a distance of about 67 million miles (108 million km) from the star. It is a dim, but hot and volcanically active planet. While its structure is similar to Earth's, Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, which triggers an exaggerated 'greenhouse effect'. Indeed, the planet's surface temperature is around 462°C (863 °F), and it can experience temperatures as high as to melt lead. Through its heavy atmosphere, astronomers have been able to observe volcanoes and crooked mountains. One Venus year lasts 225 Earth days,and the planet spins so slowly that its day lasts as 243 Earth days. It spins in the opposite direction of most planets. Advertisement

But what causes it remains uncertain. 'It's certainly mysterious,' said planetary scientist Suzanne Smrekar of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Akatsuki project manager Masato Nakamura at Jaxa has said that the probe's instruments are 'working perfectly'.

In December Japan's space agency has confirmed its Akatsuki probe has entered into orbit around Venus, after failing to do so upon its launch in 2010.

Akatsuki, which means 'dawn' in Japanese, is using five cameras and a radio instrument to study the planet's atmosphere.

The Japanese space Agency (Jaxa) launched its probe from the Tanegashima Space Center in May 2010, carried by an H-IIA 202 rocket together with the IKAROS solar sail craft.

The space travel went smoothly until 7 December, when Akatsuki fired its main engine to enter Venus's orbit.

A valve broke due to a build-up of salt and the craft spiralled away from the planet, becoming stranded on an orbit around the sun.

Jaxa decided to send the probe into 'hibernation mode', and devised a plan to try again as soon as the craft journeyed by Venus again.

As the main engine was beyond repair, Akatsuki dumped 143lbs (65 kilograms) of fuel in 2011.

The second-chance manoeuvre in December used the craft's eight small RCS thrusters, usually employed for small adjustments, to change its trajectory. The craft rotated into a new position and was captured by Venus' gravity after a 20-minute flight (pictured is an illustration showing the new trajectory)

This made the probe lighter and easier to steer into position with less propulsion.

The second-chance manoeuvre took place in December and engineers used the craft's eight small RCS thrusters, usually employed for small adjustments, to change its trajectory.

While over the course of the past, idle years, the probe managed to carry out some analysis of the sun's radio waves, its cameras have not been used.

The probe is fitted with three infrared cameras, together with an ultraviolet imager and a lightning and airglow camera that will allow Akatsuki to observe Venus' extremely mobile atmosphere.

This atmosphere rotates at 100 metres per second, much faster than the planet itself.

The holdup, however, has not been without consequence.

The probe's new orbit is much more stretched than the one originally planned, for example.

This means the craft will be thousands - rather than hundreds - of miles away from Venus.

While it will still be able to carry out its mission, this trajectory will mean it will take longer for Akatsuki to gather the necessary data.