Tagged: venus

Nighttime weather on Venus revealed for the 1st time

What’s the weather like at night on Venus? Scientists are finally finding out. Just one planet away, Venus is relatively close to Earth and we have been studying it for a long time, with the first Venusian probe reaching the planet in 1978. However, scientists...

New research suggests explosive volcanic activity on Venus

Traces of the gas phosphine point to volcanic activity on Venus, according to new research from Cornell University. Last autumn, scientists revealed that phosphine was found in trace amounts in the planet’s upper atmosphere. That discovery promised the slim possibility that phosphine serves as a...

Lack of water rules out life on Venus: study

A study measuring water concentration in Venus’s atmosphere concluded Monday that life as we know it is not possible among the sulphuric acid droplets that make up the planet’s famously cloudy skies. The search for life on our nearest neighbor has so far proved fruitless,...

NASA picks Venus as hot spot for two new robotic missions

NASA is returning to sizzling Venus, our closest yet perhaps most overlooked neighbor, after decades of exploring other worlds. The space agency’s new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two new robotic missions to the solar system’s hottest planet, during his first major address to employees Wednesday....

Parker Solar Probe Captures A Glimpse Of Venus

NASA released this spectacular image of Venus on February 24, 2021, taken by the Parker Solar Probe during its Venus flyby in July 2020. The solar spacecraft – which launched August 12, 2018 – is passing close to Venus a total of seven times during...

Possible Life Signs In The Clouds Of Venus

In late 2020, scientists studying the atmosphere of Venus announced the surprising – and controversial – discovery of phosphine, a chemical that, on Earth, is produced primarily by living organisms. Jane Greaves at Cardiff University in Wales and her colleagues asked at the time: could...

1st Complete View Of Venus’ Orbital Dust Ring

This isn’t some sort of flare – or glare – or any kind of jet or ray. It’s the first complete view of a ring of dust moving around the sun in the orbit of the planet Venus. The 4 frames of the image were...

The Length Of A Day On Venus Is Always Changing

Scientists said that they’ve finally answered the question of the length of a “day” on Venus. And the answer is … it’s always changing, by as much as 20 minutes! We knew that Venus had an exceedingly long day. A day on Venus – a...

Parker discovers natural radio emission in Venus’ atmosphere

During a brief swing by Venus, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe detected a natural radio signal that revealed the spacecraft had flown through the planet’s upper atmosphere. This was the first direct measurement of the Venusian atmosphere in nearly 30 years—and it looks quite different from...