Universe Today » Venus

UFOs, a Green Venus and Sun Gobbling? Isn't That Going a Little Far, Mrs Hatoyama?

Ian O'Neill — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:41:04 +0000

Venus? Green? Awesome!

"While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus."

This might sound like a quote taken from the ramblings of a conspiracy theorist or the chant from someone who spent an hour too many at an Amsterdam coffee shop, but it wasn't.

Actually, these are the words of the wife of the Japanese premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama.

Mrs Miyuki Hatoyama might be married to a man Japan nicknames "The Alien," but it looks like it's not him who has dreams of an extraterrestrial nature…
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New Map Hints at Venus' Wet, Volcanic Past

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:44:47 +0000

Venus is often referred to as Earth's twin, as the two planets share a similar size. But perhaps the similarities don't end there. A new infrared map from Venus Express hints that our neighboring world may once have been more Earth-like, with a plate tectonics system and an ocean of water. While previous radar images have given us a glimpse of Venus' cloud-shrouded surface, this is the first map that hints at the chemical composition of the rocks. The new data are consistent with suspicions that the highland plateaus of Venus are ancient continents, once surrounded by ocean and produced by past volcanic activity.
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Earth Cyclones, Venus Vortices Have Much in Common

Anne Minard — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:41:11 +0000

Scientists have spotted an S-shaped feature in the center of the vortices on Venus that looks familiar — because they've seen it in tropical cyclones on Earth.

Researchers from the United States and Europe spotted the feature using NASA's Pioneer Venus Orbiter and The European Space Agency's Venus Express. Their new discovery confirms that massive, swirling wind patterns have much in common where they have been found — on Venus, Saturn and Earth.

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Venus is Glowing in the Dark!

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:19:48 +0000

Venus is glowing in infrared! At least at night, anyway. The Venus Express spacecraft has observed an eerie glow in the night-time atmosphere of Venus. This infrared glow comes from nitric oxide and is showing scientists that the atmosphere of Earth’s nearest neighbor is a temperamental place of high winds and turbulence. Since this glow is infrared, we can't see it with our eyes but lucky for us, the ESA's spacecraft is equipped with the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument, which can see these wavelengths. A glow like this has never been detected in the atmospheres of Earth or Mars, even though nitric oxide molecules are present. So just why is Venus glowing, and what is this glow telling us?
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Venus Possibly Had Continents, Oceans

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:31:17 +0000

A new look at data gathered from the Galileo spacecraft in 1990 reveals that Venus at one time may have been habitable, with evidence of past continents and oceans. In a flyby of Venus on the spacecraft's journey to Jupiter, a near-infrared mapping instrument detected signatures which the researchers have interpreted as granite. An international team led by planetary scientist George Hashimoto, at Okayama University, Japan, found that Venus's highland regions emitted less infrared radiation than its lowlands. One interpretation of this dichotomy, says the team's new paper, is that the highlands are composed largely of 'felsic' rocks, particularly granite. Granite, which on Earth is found in continental crust, requires water for its formation.
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Seeing Venus in a New Light

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:51:07 +0000

New images taken by instruments on board ESA’s Venus Express are providing insight into the turbulent atmosphere of our neighboring planet. When viewed in beyond visible light, the ultraviolet reveals the structure of the clouds and the dynamic conditions in the atmosphere of Venus, where the infrared provides information on the temperature and altitude of the cloud tops. Most intriguing are the puzzling dark and bright zones seen on Venus in ultraviolet.
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Why is Venus Express Looking for Life on Earth?

Ian O'Neill — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:36:35 +0000

If you are an astronomer looking for a habitable exoplanet orbiting a far-off star, what do you look for? We know from personal experience that we need oxygen and water to live on Earth, so this is a good place to start; look for exoplanets with the spectroscopic signature of O₂ and H₂O. But this isn't enough. Venus has oxygen and water in its atmosphere too, so if we only used these two indicators as a measure for habitability, we would be sorely disappointed to find a water and oxygen-rich Venus-like world which has little chance of supporting life (as we know it).

In an effort to understand what a "habitable planet" looks like from afar, European Space Agency (ESA) scientists have decided to do a bit of retrospective astronomy. Venus Express, currently in orbit around Venus, is being used to look back at the blue dot we call home to help us understand what a real habitable planet looks like…
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Winds on Venus are Variable, Cyclical

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:07:50 +0000

Credits: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA/ Universidad del PaÃs Vasco (R.Hueso)

The Venus Express spacecraft has been continuously monitoring the planet in orbit since 2006, and scientists now have enough data to start building a complete picture of the planetâ€™s atmospheric phenomena. They have put together a 3-D picture of Venusian winds for the southern hemisphere. It was known that the winds on Venus are extremely fast and powerful, but what was not known was their extreme variability. The winds are highly influenced by the sun, as well as an unusual and unknown mechanism that seems to re-set itself every five days.
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Understanding the "Superotation" Winds of Venus

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:18:26 +0000

Astronomers observing Venus back in the 1960's discovered that the top level of Venusian cloud layers moved very rapidly, orbiting the planet in only four Earth days, compared to the planetâ€™s own rotation of 243 Earth days. This phenomenon is called the â€œsuperotationâ€ of Venus. The winds carrying these clouds travel at 360 km/hr, while winds at the planet's surface are just a breeze at a few km/hr, and there have been indications that at times there's no wind on Venus' surface. This unique characteristics have been perplexing, but new observations carried out with ESA's Venus Express, in orbit around Venus since April 2006, are offering insights to the planet's atmosphere. Scientists have been able to determine in detail the global structure of the winds on Venus at the different levels of clouds while, at the same time, observe unexpected changes in the wind speeds, and which will help to interpret this mysterious phenomenon.
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If Life Exists on Venus, Could it be Blown to Earth?

Ian O'Neill — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:07:57 +0000

We've heard about the possibility of extraterrestrial life arriving on Earth from another planet, asteroid or comet, but the mode of transport usually includes a chunk of rock falling through the atmosphere as a meteorite. But there could be another form of interplanetary transportation. What if there are microbial forms of alien life floating in the upper atmosphere of Venus (the planet's clouds contain compounds that could indicate presence of micro organisms)? Could they make the trip to Earth? Apparently it is possible, if Earth and Venus are correctly aligned, the solar wind may carry microbes from the upstream Venus to downstream Earth in a matter of days…
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Snuggling Up to Venus

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:08:14 +0000

ESA's Venus Express spacecraft will be cozying up to the planet it has been studying for over two years to begin new and more detailed observations of Venus. This week, engineers began executing a series of maneuvers to gradually bring the spacecraft to a new orbit, closer to Venus. In its new, modified orbit the spacecraft will be able to observe unexplored regions and investigate phenomena that were not within its reach before. The maneuvers will be executed through the month of July, settling it into its new orbit by August 4. Venus Express will eventually get close enough to the planet to dip slightly into the atmosphere, testing out its aerobraking capabilities to further alter its orbit, as well as evaluating the density of the upper atmosphere by measuring the drag on the spacecraft with its on-board accelerometers.
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Colonizing Venus With Floating Cities

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:42:25 +0000

Seemingly, people in the space community have a tendency to push the boundaries of thought about all the possibilities that await us in the universe. Case in point: Geoffrey Landis. Landis is a scientist at NASA's Glenn Research Center who writes science fiction in his spare time. Last week Landis shared with us his ideas for using a solar powered airplane to study Venus. This week, Landis goes a step farther (actually, several steps farther) with his ideas about colonizing Venus. Yes, Venus, our hot, greenhouse-effect-gone-mad neighboring planet with a crushing surface pressure that has doomed the few spacecraft that have attempted to reach the planet's mysterious landscape. Landis knows Venus' surface itself is pretty much out of the question for human habitation. But up about 50 kilometers above the surface, Landis says the atmosphere of Venus is the most Earth-like environment, other than Earth itself, in the solar system. What Landis proposes is creating floating cities on Venus where people could live and work, as well as study the planet below.
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Cruising the Cloud Tops of Venus With a Solar-Powered Airplane

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:54:01 +0000

With all the orbital missions at the various planets in our solar system, scientists have been able to glean an amazing amount of data to help us understand our neighboring worlds. But imagine a mission that could fly lower than orbital altitudes â€“ actually flying in the atmosphere of another planet and closer to the surface â€“ and imagine how much more detailed the data could be. This type of mission would be especially helpful on Venus, where the intense heat and crushing air pressure at the surface basically precludes the success of any type of lander mission. So, last year, when NASA formed a Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) to study the concept of a flagship mission to Venus, waiting in the wings was Dr. Geoffrey Landis. For the past several years Landis and a group of scientists and engineers from NASA's Glenn Research Center have been studying the concept of a solar-powered airplane at Venus. Landis says a small aircraft powered by solar energy could fly continuously in Venus' atmosphere, and would be an ideal vehicle for gathering data on both the planet's atmosphere and surface, with the ability to maneuver almost anywhere.
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Elusive Molecule Found in Venus' Atmosphere

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:40:17 +0000

Hydroxyl, an important but difficult-to-detect molecule, has been found in the upper atmosphere of Venus by the Venus Express spacecraft. This is the first time this molecule has been detected on another planet, and even though it is thought to be an "atmospheric cleanser," knowing that it is part of Venus' thick, greenhouse-like atmosphere will help scientists better understand the environment on our next-door planet. "Venus Express has already shown us that Venus is much more Earth-like than once thought. The detection of hydroxyl brings it a step closer," said one of the Principal Investigators of the VIRTIS experiment on the Venus Express, Giuseppe Piccioni.
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Rising Temperatures Could Shut Down Plate Tectonics

Fraser Cain — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:13:38 +0000

Venus is known as the Earth's twin, but a better name might be Earth's "evil twin" planet. Although Venus has a similar size and mass to Earth, it has a dramatically different surface and atmosphere. And one of the biggest differences is that fact that Earth has plate tectonics, and Venus doesn't. New research indicates that prolonged atmospheric heat might be able to shut down plate tectonics, and cause our planet's crust to be locked in place. Don't worry, this isn't something we'll have to worry about for a few hundred million years.
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Looking For a Free Ride To Venus?

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:36:42 +0000

The folks over at Ars Technica report that the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, announced they are now accepting proposals for a microprobe that can hitch a ride with the Venus Climate Orbiter, Japan's upcoming robotic mission to Venus. They will provide a free ride to either a low-Earth orbit or on a trajectory toward Venus. There are just a few requirements that JAXA has specified:
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Venus' Variable Evolution

Tammy Plotner — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:48:47 +0000

For every backyard astronomer, we know 4.5 billion years ago, both Venus and Earth were formed with nearly the same radius, mass, density and chemical composition. Venus is like Earth's evil twin, but why is the climate on both worlds so widely varied? Scientists analysing the data from the orbiting European Venus Express spacecraft are finally putting the pieces of the geological and climatological puzzle together as they take a closer look at Venusian evolution.(...)
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The Constantly Changing Vortex on Venus

Fraser Cain — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:25:47 +0000

ESA's Venus Express has been constantly watching the huge swirling vortex of clouds around Venus' southern pole. It's a strange weather feature, morphing and changing shape within just a few days. And scientists, as you can probably imagine, are puzzled about what's going on.
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Observing the Atmospheres of Venus and Mars Leak into Space (Video)

Ian O'Neill — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:06:47 +0000

It turns out that Venus and Mars aren't actually that different after all. Although Mars has very little atmosphere to speak of and Venus has a stifling, thick, poisonous one, they have one thing in common: the Sun. The solar wind constantly batters the Solar System's planets, stripping their atmospheres into space. Is it possible that Mars may once have had a thick atmosphere like Venus', but has long since leaked away?
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The Mysteries Behind the Dynamic Global Weather of Venus

Ian O'Neill — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:47:52 +0000

As if the cloudy planet couldn't get any more mysterious, Venus and its global weather patterns are baffling European Space Agency (ESA) scientists. The ESA Venus Express mission is continuing to unearth the details of what lies in and under its thick atmosphere, but Venus's dynamic global weather patterns are very quick to consume the whole planet, like nothing we experience on Earth…
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Venus Express Detects Water Vapour in Low Altitude Clouds

Fraser Cain — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:42:40 +0000

There's a real advantage to having a spacecraft orbit a planet for days, months and even years. You have lots and lots of time to really pull in the science. And now, almost 2 years into its visit at our evil twin planet, ESA's Venus Express has been able to map the planet's atmosphere at lower altitudes, searching for chemicals that will help scientists understand the planet's global climate and weather systems.
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Lightning Storms Seen on Venus

Fraser Cain — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:29:50 +0000

Venus is a hostile world, with high temperatures, intense pressures, and an atmosphere with sulphuric acid. The Russian spacecraft sent to explore it succumbed in mere hours. Well, now it appears that Venus is even more dangerous than previously imagined, with lightning flashing in the atmosphere.
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How to Keep a Venus Rover Cool

Nicholos Wethington — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:43:42 +0000

In comparison to a mission to Venus, missions to Mars or the Moon are a cakewalk. With temperatures exceeding 450ÂºC (840ÂºF) and pressures over 92 times that of the surface of the Earth, landing a rover on the surface of Venus is quite a feat. This, however, is exactly what a research and development team at the NASA John Glenn Research Center hopes to accomplish.
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Podcast: Venus

Fraser Cain — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:29:23 +0000

Last week we talked about Mercury, so this week our planetary parade proceeds to Venus. It's the brightest object in the sky, the hottest object in the solar system, and it's probably one of the most deadly places to go and visit. You might be amazed to know that spacecraft have actually reached the surface of Venus and taken pictures. Find out more about our Earth's evil twin planet.

Click here to download the episode

Venus – Show notes and transcript

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

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MESSENGER's Farewell Venus Video

Fraser Cain — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:27:10 +0000

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft made its second and final flyby with the planet Venus on June 5th, 2007. It captured images and data on the way in, and it did the same as it sped away from the cloudy inner planet. The imaging team working with Messenger have stitched together the outbound images into a video, 50 frames long.

The images were captured using MESSENGER's Wide Angle Camera. At the beginning of the sequence, the spacecraft was only 60,688 kilometers (37,710 miles) away from Venus, and at the end, it was 89,310 kilometers (55,495 miles) away. The first set of images were taken every 20 minutes, and then every 60 minutes at the end.
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