Post by glactus on Feb 27, 2008 8:26:00 GMT
This is a picture of Venus's atmosphere, taken by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) during Venus Express orbit number 443 on 8 July 2007. The view shows the southern hemisphere of the planet. Venus Express has revealed a planet of extraordinarily changeable and extremely large-scale weather.
Obscured by thick clouds containing droplets of sulphuric acid, the surface of Venus bakes at over 700°C. This temperature is hot enough to melt most metals, and makes Venus one of the most hostile environments in the Solar System.
Bright hazes appear in a matter of days, reaching from the south pole to the low southern latitudes and disappearing just as quickly. Such ‘global weather’, unlike anything on Earth, has given scientists a new mystery to solve.
The Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC). has seen some amazing things. In July 2007, VMC captured a series of images showing the development of the bright southern haze. Within days, the high-altitude veil continually brightened and dimmed, moving towards equatorial latitudes and back towards the pole again.
This bright haze layer is made of sulphuric acid,” says Dmitri Titov, VMC Co-Investigator and Venus Express Science Coordinator, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany. That composition suggests the existence of a formation process to the VMC team.
What causes the water vapour and sulphur dioxide to well up in the first place? The team does not know yet. Titov says that it is probably an internal dynamical process in the planet’s atmosphere. Also, the influence of solar activity on haze formation has not been completely ruled out.
Art Planets
credits:
This article has beesn adapted from material supplied by the European Space Agency.
This is part text only. See image, full text and all scientists involved at sciencedaily.com
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221084148.htm
Venus image- 1: ESA/ MPS/DLR/IDA
Venus image- 2: www.bnsc.gov.uk/lzcontent.aspx?nid=4740
