Future missions are planned to investigate strange signals coming from our nearest neighbour, Venus, which evidence shows could be from volcanic activity. It has long been thought that they hottest planet in our solar system is volcanically active and is probably the cause of the thick atmosphere that has contributed to the runaway greenhouse effect. It has made the planet the hottest in the solar system, even though Mercury is much, much closer to the Sun.
Read: Xiaomi will produce 300,000 EVs per year at its new factory
While we have sent probes and aircraft into the atmosphere, it has never been able to hit the surface and confirm this hypothesis. Our craft always ceases to function at the extreme temperatures and pressures present on Venus, making it difficult to confirm. However, a new study has added significant amounts of evidence to the case that Venus may be volcanically active, which would help explain how volcanoes impact planetary evolution and habitability across not only our solar system, but the cosmos.
We have always known there are massive volcanoes on the planet but haven’t been able to see an active one. This is due to the extremely thick atmosphere, which blocks most types of observation from outside the planet. The research, which focuses on strange signals coming from a Venusian volcano called Idunn Mons, is fuelling excitement about future missions Venus that will settle the matter once and for all.
“I don’t think anyone would be surprised that, when we got to Venus, we’d find evidence of volcanic activity,” said Justin Filiberto, the branch chief in Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Research Office at NASA Johnson Space Center and co-author of the study published last month in The Planetary Science Journal. Still, confirming that suspicion would have major implications.
Like Earth, Venus once had an ocean’s worth of water, but today it’s an arid wasteland with a dense, acid-laden atmosphere and a surface hot enough to melt lead.
