We have performed a detailed analysis of the published Venus IR maps and have obtained a number of new results. The global contour map of the average temperature variations in the vicinity of 6120 km reveals the existence of saddle points along the equator at dawn, at noon, and just before sunset. The hot spots observed at 4:30--4:40 A.M. at 65¿ -68¿S latitude appear to be in the vicinity of the coldest region from which the 8- to 14-&mgr;m emissions originate. At large earth zenith angles the limb darkening curves show a hump which is attributed primarily to a single patchy haze layer in the vicinity of 6123 km and with a thickness of the order of 3 km. We obtain an average IR source region temperature of 250¿K at the equator. At the poles the same altitude region is 8¿K cooler.