Recent Findings about Venus | 08 May 2021

Why in News

Recently, scientists have obtained new data about Venus by bouncing radio waves off the planet.

• The scientists transmitted radio waves toward Venus 21 times from 2006 to 2020 from NASA's Goldstone Antenna in the Mojave Desert of California and studied the radio echo, which provided information on certain planetary traits.

Key Points

• Latest Findings:
  
  • A single Venusian rotation takes 243.0226 Earth days. This means a day lasts longer than a year on Venus, which makes a complete orbit around the sun in 225 Earth days.
  • The Venusian planetary core has a diameter of about 7,000 km, comparable to Earth’s core which is 6,970 km.
  • The Venusian tilt is at about 2.64 degrees. Earth’s is about 23.5 degrees.
• Previous Findings:
  
  • Presence of phosphine was detected in the atmosphere of Venus.This indicates the possibility of the presence of lifeforms on Venus.
  • According to a study published in Nature Geoscience, Venus is still geologically active.
    
    • The study identified 37 active volcanoes, in the form of ring-like structures known as coronae, on the surface of Venus.
• About Venus :
  
  • Venus, the second planet from the sun, is similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth (Earth’s Twin).
  • It has a thick and toxic atmosphere that consists primarily of carbon dioxide, with clouds of sulfuric acid droplets.
  • With a runaway greenhouse effect, its surface temperatures reach 471 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt lead.
    
    • The phenomenon, called the ‘runaway greenhouse’ effect, occurs when a planet absorbs more energy from the sun than it can radiate back to space. Under these circumstances, the hotter the surface temperature gets, the faster it warms up.
  • Venus is one of just two planets that rotate from east to west. Only Venus and Uranus have this “backwards” rotation.
  • Venus has no moons and no rings.
  • On Venus, one day-night cycle takes 117 Earth days because Venus rotates in the direction opposite of its orbital revolution around the Sun.
• Missions Related to Venus:
  
  • ISRO Shukrayaan: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also planning a mission to Venus, tentatively called Shukrayaan
  • Akatsuki (Japanese 2015)
  • Venus Express (European Space Agency 2005)
  • NASA’s Magellan (1989)

Source: TH