The clouds have a great impact on Venus’s energy budget and climate evolution, but its three-dimensional structure is still not well understood. Here we incorporate a simple Venus cloud physics […]
Venus
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Gliese 12 b: Earth Twin or Evil Twin
The discovery of a planet similar to Venus around a star in the neighborhood of the Solar System raises hopes that astronomers may someday unlock the secret to why life […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Press Release, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Interior Convection Regime, Host Star Luminosity, And Predicted Atmospheric CO2 Abundance In Terrestrial Exoplanets
Terrestrial planets in the Habitable Zone of Sun-like stars are priority targets for detection and observation by the next generation of powerful space telescopes.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Venus
Venus as an Exoplanet: I. An Initial Exploration of the 3-D Energy Balance for a CO2 Exoplanetary Atmosphere Around an M-Dwarf Star
The chemical evolution of an exoplanetary Venus-like atmosphere is dependent upon the ultraviolet to near ultraviolet (FUV-NUV) radiation ratio from the parent star, the balance between CO2 photolysis and recombination […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Venus
Ongoing Venus Volcanic Activity Discovered With NASA’s Magellan Data
Direct geological evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus has been observed for a second time. Scientists in Italy analyzed archival data from NASA’s Magellan mission to reveal surface changes […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Venus
Lava World Away Team Practice: NASA’s VERITAS Science Team Studies Volcanic Iceland
With its crushing atmospheric pressure, clouds of sulfuric acid, and searing surface temperature, Venus is an especially challenging place to study. But scientists know that observing its surface can provide […]
Posted inCommercial & Private Sector, Cubesats and smallsats, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Venus
Photon Spacecraft and Aerocapture: Enabling Small Low-Circular Orbiters at Mars and Venus
With advancements in low-cost launchers and small interplanetary spacecraft, NASA has recognized the potential of small missions to perform focused planetary science investigations at Mars and Venus.
![Mass - radius relations of puffy Venuses. a: M-R relations compared to observed exoplanets. The grey line is the M-R for terrestrial planets with an Earth-like core mass fraction of 0.325 (Plotnykov & Valencia 2020). Colored solid lines are puffy Venus radii assuming different Teq, with the fiducial, OC-like volatile C and H abundances. The orange dashed line is the M-R for Teq = 2000 K planets with a convective deep atmosphere to the MO surface, instead of a deep radiative zone. The shaded region is the range of M-R space an air-less rocky world can occupy for all possible Fe/Si ∈ [0, 1]. Planets less dense than this region require a volatile component. Measured exoplanet samples are from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (2023), and only contain those with relative errors below 30%. The nine planets highlighted with black circles are our preferred puffy Venus candidates. In rising mass order, they are GJ 1252 b, TOI-500 b, TOI-561 b, Kepler-10 b, Kepler-36 b, HD 219134 b, HD 3167 b, WASP-47 e, and 55 Cnc e. TOI-561 b’s radius is from Patel et al. (2023); its mass is from Brinkman et al. (2023) b: M-R of puffy Venuses with a range of chondritic C abundances, more opaque lines correspond to less C. They are color-coded by temperature - Teq = 1000 K (blue) and 2000 K (orange). The dashed orange line is for wet CI composition, while the solid line with the same color is for dry CI composition. The dotted portion of dry CI, 1000 K line are atmospheres that should experience graphite precipitation; see text. c: M-R of models assuming different chemical scenarios - I (solid), local chemical equilibrium throughout the atmosphere, II (dash-dot), chemical equilibrium at the MO surface, and a CO2 + H2O atmosphere (dotted). Fiducial OC C and H abundances are used. Same color-coding as b. The solid 1000 K and 2000 K lines in a, the 2 OC lines in b, and the 2 Scenario I lines in c are the same. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Puffy-Venuses.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Venus
Puffy Venuses: the Mass-Radius Impact of Carbon-Rich Atmospheres on Lava Worlds
The recent advancements in exoplanet observations enable the potential detection of exo-Venuses, rocky planets with carbon-rich atmospheres. How extended these atmospheres can be, given high carbon abundances, has not been […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Venus
Venus Has Almost No Water. A New Study May Reveal Why
Planetary scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered how Venus, Earth’s scalding and uninhabitable neighbor, became so dry.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mars, Status Report, Venus
The Evolutionary Divergence Of Mars, Venus and Earth
Mars, Venus and Earth are expected to have started in a hot molten state. Here, we discuss how these three terrestrial planets diverged in their evolution and what mechanisms could […]