From Science @NASA Japanese Spacecraft Approaches Venus
For the next few months, Venus will be softly resplendent in the evening sky, a treat for stargazers – but looks can be deceiving.
Consider this: The Venusian surface is hot enough to melt lead. The planet’s 96% carbon dioxide atmosphere is thick and steamy with a corrosive mist of sulfuric acid floating through it. The terrain is forbidding, strewn with craters and volcanic calderas – and bone dry. Takeshi Imamura can’t wait to get there.
Imamura is the project scientist for Akatsuki, a Japanese mission also called the Venus Climate Orbiter. The spacecraft is approaching Venus and will enter orbit on December 7, 2010. Imamura believes a close-up look at Venus could teach us a lot about our own planet.
“In so many ways, Venus is similar to Earth. It has about the same mass, is approximately the same distance from the sun, and is made of the same basic materials,” says Imamura. “Yet the two worlds ended up so different. We want to know why.”
Although a parade of U.S. and Soviet spacecraft has visited Venus since 1961, no one yet knows how it became Earth’s “evil twin.” Did it suffer from a case of global warming run amok – or something else? When Akatsuki reaches Venus in December, it will begin to solve some of the mysteries hidden in the thick Venusian atmosphere.
“By comparing Venus’s unique meteorology to Earth’s, we’ll learn more about the universal principles of meteorology and improve the climate models we use to predict our planet’s future.”
Particularly puzzling is Venus’s “super-rotation.” Fierce, blistering winds propel an atmosphere filled with storms and sulfuric acid clouds in a churning maelstrom around Venus at over 220 miles per hour, 60 times faster than the planet itself rotates.
“Venus’s atmosphere is in perpetual motion, as if a living thing,” says Imamura.
Within this swirling cauldron are other Venusian riddles to be solved: What is the origin of the 12-mile thick layer of sulfuric acid clouds that shrouds the planet? And how does Venus’ lightning crackle through this strange brew?
Akatsuki, bristling with cameras, will circle the exotic planet’s equator in an elliptical orbit for at least 2 years, monitoring the atmosphere at different altitudes using various wavelengths (IR, UV, and visible). With this data and data from the spacecraft’s radio dish, scientists will reconstruct a 3D model of the atmosphere’s structure and dynamics.
“The spacecraft’s orbit will match the circulation of Venus’s clouds, allowing the instruments to monitor cloud movement from directly above for 20 hours at a time. We’ll assemble the images to produce a cloud motion time-lapse movie, much like a weather forecaster on television might show you of Earth.”
The instruments will also scrutinize the planet’s surface for volcanic activity that could be contributing to the sulfur contents of the atmosphere. “If any active volcanoes are spouting hot lava on Venus, one of our infrared cameras will detect the thermal emission,” says Imamura.
In addition, Akatsuki’s Lightning and Airglow Camera will hunt for lightning in order to settle a longstanding debate. “On Earth, the standard theory of lightning requires water ice particles on which positive or negative charges are induced via collisions,” explains Imamura. “But there are no ice particles in Venus’s hot, dry atmosphere–so how does Venusian lightning get started? It may be that charge separation can occur in sulfuric acid clouds–or perhaps some unknown solid particles exist in the atmosphere and play an important role.”
Imamura can scarcely contain his curiosity. “As a young boy I loved to watch clouds, stars, oceans, rocks, and creatures. I wanted to understand why they look and behave as they do. Now I am curious in the same way about Venus. Nature is so full of mysteries!”
Beginning in December, some of Venus’s mysteries will be revealed. Stay tuned.
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Tenuc said on August 17, 2010 at 3:17 pm:
I sorta mentioned that above…
Let’s see what happens when I use the attribute-ending codes (which likely won’t show up)…
The slow retrograde rotation of Venus must be a clue as to why the difference between Earth and the sister planet is so pronounced. Whatever caused that retrograde rotation must have also have had an effect on the current state of affairs on that planet. Although planets closer to the mother star is proned to tidal locking, (Just as our moon), I do not believe Venus is sufficiently close enough for this to be the explanation.
Tom in Florida
August 17, 2010 at 2:30 pm
They are also both in the kitchen, weigh about the same, and are very similar chemically; your right they are nearly identical!
It could be the reason they’re trying to find out so much about Venus is because Dr Hansen got his “bones” with his early research papers, and based his “Earth will turn into another Venus” theory on the little that was known then.
They’re trying to get enough data for Hansen to revise his early papers, and PROVE to us that “It’s much worse than we thought.”
Way to Go JAXA & Takeshi Imamura!!!! Thank You! Congratulations! Good Luck! (and to ward off the fates – Break a leg! as they say in showbiz) Whenever scientists actually do something (as opposed to using a computer program to simulate and extrapolate) the World should celebrate. Please keep us all posted! Don’t hold back anything!
>> mecago says:
August 17, 2010 at 1:04 pm
1) Fast enough to prevent an extra 1F of Globally averaged heat, on top of the 1.4F that we already have, that is due to us in the next 30 years from Thermal Lag? This assuming that we stop burning ALL fossil fuels today? <<
Oh horrors! 1 degree F! Thirty years from now I'll have to get up a whole 15 minutes earlier each day to wake up to the same temperature. Of course that's only if your CAGW religion is correct to begin with.
The fact the Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter includes “Climate” in its mission name may indicate some bias towards using Venus to “prove” the case for CO2-induced global warming on Earth.
In any case, it is important to learn as much as possible about Venus and possibly explain its excessive heat as due to something other than the “greenhouse” effect gone wild. Venus is terrestrial and more like the Earth than any other planet in size and orbital location, yet its temperature, atmosphere, rotation, and a “young” surface with few impact craters are so different. This cries out for an explanation.
Thought it is a long shot, it would be nice to see the scientific concensus overturned. In his controversial 1950 best seller Worlds in Collision Immanuel Velikovsky speculates that Venus was a comet that was captured by our solar system as recently as 1500 BC! That would explain why Venus rotates opposite to all the other planets and why it is so hot and why it has such a dense CO2 (96.5%)atmosphere.
If, as claimed by Velikovsky, the capture occured during historical times, one would expect mention of this event in the oral history of those times. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite (the Greek name for Venus) was born when the god Cronus cut off his father Uranus’s genitals and threw them in the sea and Aphrodite arose from the sea foam. In another myth, the goddess Athena sprang from the head of Zeus (Jupiter), which could be an ancient interpretation of a comet appearing to come from Jupiter and passing by the Earth on its way to planetdom. He interprets myths from India, China, Egypt, Mexico, and the MidEast and attaches them to his theory. In particular the Exodus story of the pillar of fire by night and smoke by day that guided the Hebrews during their wandering in the desert is said to be the tail of the comet/planet Venus!
I don’t expect Velikovsky’s out-of-the-box speculations to be supported by the Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter, but it would be nice if additional data clarified what percentage of its excessive heat is due to “greenhouse” effects, and what percentage may be due to other factors, such as the pressure of its dense atmosphere.
There is only a 1/365 (0.27%) chance the Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter would be scheduled to enter the Venusian atmosphere on any given date. Yet that date happens to be December 7th, the exact date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Coincidence?
venera actually landed and sent back pictures. i think the craft lasted around 3 hours on the surface of the planet
and i can answer all their questions without sending a probe. It’s hotter because:
1) it’s closer to the sun
2)the day is 243 time longer than on earth
3)the atmosphere is 93 times denser
but hey, shows what you can get financed with CAGW money.
maybe if NASA puts “climate” in front of the project title they can get the money to send someone back to the moon, or even to mars
peterhodges says:
August 17, 2010 at 7:44 pm
and i can answer all their questions without sending a probe. It’s hotter because:
2) the day is 243 time longer than on earth
You made me think in those chicken-roaster machines. The slower the rotation, the more toasted the chicken you get (lip-smacking).
However, the time a hemisphere would spend on facing the Sun, the time the opposite hemisphere would be in the darkness. While a hemisphere is taking solar thermal energy, the hemisphere of the other extreme is losing thermal energy towards the space.
Is Venus the only planet without a magnet shield?
Why is the Earth so different to Venus?
One word… “Life”
Rhoda R says:
August 17, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Is Venus the only planet without a magnet shield?
Yes, until now. Mars has a weak magnetic field and Mercury also, although Mercury’s magnetic field is a bit stronger than Mars’ magnetosphere.
>>John Lohman says: August 17, 2010 at 8:07 am
>>December 7th?
Yeh. Venus is the new name for Hawaii.
.
Average surface pressure on Earth (sea level): 1 013 hPa
Venus: 93 196 hPa
Solar irradiance (annual average): 1 367.6 vs. 2 613.9 Watts per sq. meter.
Number of natural satellites: 1 vs. 0.
Negligible differences, we can easily ignore them as the Japanese team did maybe in order to get some additional financial support from pro-AGW
sources.
“By comparing Venus’s unique meteorology to Earth’s, we’ll learn more about the universal principles of meteorology and improve the climate models we use to predict our planet’s future.”
It appears scientists in Japan have to kiss the golden calf just as here in the US.
Sorry, I did not need to be so cynical.
Compliments to the Japanese space program, and the interesting questions raised about how the lightning is generated, and whether there are active volcanoes on Venus, as we are told the huge Mons on Venus are volcanoes.
I think what they mean by Earth being similar to Venus is that they are supposed to be of the same age and made from the same primordial cloud. A simple answer for the high heat and electrical activity on Venus is that it is younger.
Adam Soereg says: Solar irradiance (annual average): 1 367.6 vs. 2 613.9 Watts per sq. meter [Earth vs. Venus].
True, at the edges of the atmosphere. But Earth albedo (o.367) reflects 501.9 w/m2, leaving 865.7 w/m2 to impinge upon the Earth. And Venus albedo (o.75) reflects 1 960.4 w/m2, leaving 653.5 w/m2 to impinge upon Venus. How then to reconcile the higher temperature of Venus with the lower actual solar flux into the planet? (I have no axe to grind. This is a true puzzle.)
Nasif Nahle says: However, the time a hemisphere would spend on facing the Sun, the time the opposite hemisphere would be in the darkness. While a hemisphere is taking solar thermal energy, the hemisphere of the other extreme is losing thermal energy towards the space.
But not quite exact. It turns out that the atomosphere of Venus has a steep refractive gradient, which will have the effect of causing tangential rays from the Sun to shine onto the “back” hemisphere. This effect is strong enough on Earth that the true position of the visual setting sun is already below the horizon. At one time, Venus was supposed to have severe optical refraction phenomena, but these were not observed from the Venera probes. (My grad school experiment was a “Venus machine,” designed to create such extreme refractive gradients.)
Nasif Nahle says:
August 17, 2010 at 11:15 pm
While a hemisphere is taking solar thermal energy, the hemisphere of the other extreme is losing thermal energy towards the space.
that’s a point, plus those 240mph winds might help even things out.
however, as someone said above, how hot would it get in dallas if the day were 5,352 hours long?
The “warmers” love to pint at Venus for their Scare you straight momet of drama.
But Venus is not like Earth and you have all pointed out the obvious differences.
Earth will not become another Venus regardless of even the most destructive human activity.
As a space science enthusiast, I have to say, Venus is a waste.
There will be no manned missions to Venus, ever.
Studying what makes inhospitable planets, so, when the vast resources of the solar system remain untapped and largely unexplored is a waste of scientific curiosity, as well as money.
Michael J. Dunn says:
August 18, 2010 at 12:40 pm
But not quite exact. It turns out that the atomosphere of Venus has a steep refractive gradient, which will have the effect of causing tangential rays from the Sun to shine onto the “back” hemisphere. This effect is strong enough on Earth that the true position of the visual setting sun is already below the horizon. At one time, Venus was supposed to have severe optical refraction phenomena, but these were not observed from the Venera probes. (My grad school experiment was a “Venus machine,” designed to create such extreme refractive gradients.)
And another point is the plasma “tail” at the “dark” side of the planet.
In conclusion, Venus is not the twin of Earth; therefore, there is no point of comparison between both planets and, as Jimash says, “Venus is a waste”.
What pis… rather, what annoys me is that studying Venus is hardly a waste. No scientific research is a waste, and anything that can clue us in on how the solar system was formed is good. But when we do missions like this with the feeble justification that somehow studying an inhospitable planet that has only a few, loose comparisons to our own in order to learn more about our fuc… rather, our freakin’ climate is just plain stup… rather, just plain moro… rather, just plain assholish.
Frank Lee MeiDere says:
August 18, 2010 at 5:42 pm
What pis… rather, what annoys me is that studying Venus is hardly a waste. No scientific research is a waste, and anything that can clue us in on how the solar system was formed is good. But when we do missions like this with the feeble justification that somehow studying an inhospitable planet that has only a few, loose comparisons to our own in order to learn more about our fuc… rather, our freakin’ climate is just plain stup… rather, just plain moro… rather, just plain assholish.
“Venus is a waste” of the solar system, not the scientific researches on it, I agree. The problem is not the investigation that JAXA will do on the planet, but the objectives of the investigation, which obviously don’t have a scientific footing given that Venus and Earth are not similar planets; probably not even on their respective origins.
Ira says:
August 17, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hi Ira, say here’s some stuff that might be of interest to you…
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/MNRAS/0251/0000636.000.html
http://stevepace.intuitwebsites.com/
Ok Frank.
I’ll go along with that.
In 2036, the sculptor Theotocopulos (Cedric Hardwicke) is an unhappy camper, believing art and humanity has been sacrificed for technology and science, as he exclaims: “What is this progress? What is the good of all this progress onward and onward? We demand a halt. We demand a rest … an end to progress! Make an end to progress ! Make an end to this progress now! Let this be the last day of the scientific age!” In the name of humanity, Theotocopulos leads an attack on the first manned rocketship to the moon. The film grandly concludes with the territory’s political leader, the great-grandson of John Cabal, Oswald Cabal (again Massey), motioning upwards and saying: “All the universe…or nothing. Which shall it be?”
Let us not use science and the pursuit of knowledge to restrict the future of humanity,