That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

The planet is completely shrouded in a cloud, which does not allow viewing its surface. But under it are some interesting secrets of the toxic terrestrial twin.

1. Giant gravitational waves

The last strange cloud formations noticed the Japanese spaceship Akatsuki. A recent study describes them as a “huge arc-shaped bright area,” which is 10,000 km (6,213 miles). It does not move with the rest of the clouds, but hovers separately over the mountains.

“The authors suggest that this is the result of a gravitational wave generated in the lower layers of the atmosphere as it flows through mountainous reliefs. This is reminiscent of how air travels through the mountains of the earth, ”say the researchers.

2. Glow

That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

In 2014, scientists used Venus-Express and discovered a strange feature called “glow”. The snapshot is the first photo of the glow, signed as a “rainbow feature”.

“The particles of clouds are spherical and most likely have droplets of the same size as the liquid, which causes a similar phenomenon,” writes the European Space Agency. “There are droplets in the atmosphere containing sulfuric acid.” To get the images of the droplets, the scientists placed the apparatus in front of the Sun in the hope of determining their characteristics.

3. Y-form

That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

A strange Y-shape looms over ultraviolet wavelengths, covering most of the planet. This is more than half a century confusing astronomers. At first they thought it was wind-driven clouds. But the mission of Mariner 10 in 1973 showed that Y moves independently of the environment.

The 2015 study suggests that a wave is formed by centrifugal forces that transport material from the center of rotation of the body. But there are other riddles. Scientists tracked the Y movement using unknown compounds that absorb ultraviolet radiation.

4. Life in the clouds?

That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

Can dark streaks in the clouds be microbial life? This is a strange idea, but scientists are now comparing the situation with Venus. The United States and Russia are collaborating on the Venus-D project, in which they could send an orbital and descent vehicle to Venus around 2025. This would be the first time since the 1980 approach, when the Soviet Union sent the Venus spacecraft there.

Recently, NASA astrobiologists have released an article that carries a warning: “It is possible that solid particles can be mixed in the clouds, or it is a substance with a content of sulfuric acid, or the like of ice,” reads Keith Cooper. “It was believed that it was ferric chloride, but this did not confirm the mechanism that holds ferric chloride particles at an altitude of 50-60 km above the surface. Moreover, the winds near the surface blow weakly through the dense lower atmosphere. ”

5. Close connection between surface and atmosphere

That's why the atmosphere of Venus is so strange

It should be recognized that Venus is difficult to observe, so thick clouds completely obscure the view. However, surveillance of the atmosphere allows us to imagine what the planet’s environment is like. An inspection of Venus Express (2006-2012) showed that winds containing water and cloud components were associated with the surface.

One example shows the mountains of Aphrodite, where air saturated with water moves through the mountains in a process called the “fountain of Aphrodite”. Scientists also found that water and ultraviolet dark material in the clouds is more saturated in certain places above the equator.

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