Surprising electric field at Venus. (Mission Venus Express / ESA)
Astronomers of the Venus Express mission concluded that our neighbor and torrid planet Venus has an electric wind of such magnitude that “is able to deplete oxygen in its atmosphere , one of the components of water. “
” This may have helped explain the surprising lack of water on Venus, “said the mission of the European Space Agency ( ESA) on June 20, and suggest that at one time must have had great oceans.
Glyn Collinson, a scientist NASA commented this finding as a “surprising and shocking” fact. The investigator is the leader of the study “ Electric Wind Venus: Global polar wind and ambipolar electric field, as persistent enough to escape heavy ions in the ionosphere” , published on the date mentioned in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“We never dreamed that an electric wind could be powerful enough to suck the direct oxygen out of the atmosphere into space. This is something that has to be on the list of checks to look for habitable planets around other stars, “said Mr. Collison.
The Venus Express team said “scientists believe that Venus was a place with large amounts of water on its surface more than 4 billion years ago,” and “as the planet warmed, much of this water is evaporated into the atmosphere, where then may have been affected by sunlight, causing it to be lost in space. “
on the one hand, the temperature of Venus is about 460 degrees Celsius, and that fact alone could have helped the oceans to evaporate long, pointed turn NASA.
Regarding the environment we live in Venus, “now he has a greenhouse out of control and surface temperature high enough to melt lead. In addition, unlike our planet, has no significant magnetic field itself, “said Venus Express, noting that the air consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with some amounts of nitrogen and traces of sulfur dioxide and other gases .
illustration atmosphere of Venus. (ESA / AOES Medialab)
The atmospheric pressure in turn is 100 times denser than on Earth and in this atmosphere today there are 10,000 to 100,000 times less water than our planet.
the study indicated that an explanation of the disappearance of all water vapor (H2O), is that in the earliest age of the planet, much of the hydrogen (H) dissociated oxygen (O), and escaped being this lighter. While oxygen oxidized to the rocks for billions of years.
However there is also the effect of strong solar wind. “It really is like a gas stream traveling at a million miles per hour”, they explained astronomers. This wind conducts electricity blowing the Sun, eroding the rest of oxygen and water found in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
The big surprise is that scientists Venus Express mission identified that the planet has a substantial electric field with a potential of about 10 Volt. This value is very different from Earth, thought has only 2 volts.
“This is at least five times higher than expected. The above observations in search of electric fields on Earth and Mars have failed to make a decisive detection, but indicate that if it exists, is less than 2 V, “they said.
“we believe all planets with atmospheres have a weak electric field, but this is the first time we’ve really been able to detect one,” said in turn Glyn Collinson.
Analyzing the facts from the point of view of the gravity of the planet, as in any other, astronomers believe it attracts protons and ions instead as electrons are lighter these easily escape into space .
This makes about the planet’s atmosphere is being created a vertical electric field, as the negative electrons escape upward into space, however, they “are still attached to protons and positive through the electromagnetic force ions, “the team of ESA and NASA.
vertical electric field on Venus. (NASA)
“the electric field detected by the Venus Express is much stronger than expected, and can provide enough energy to oxygen ions to accelerate them up fast enough to make them escape the gravitational pull of the planet,” said the study .
this the researchers concluded that not only the solar wind which contributes to the low amount of water and oxygen from Venus.
the reason Venus has a much higher electric field that Earth is still under investigation, but the team of ESA and NASA believe is its closest to the Sun position that determines it.
“as Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth, the planet receives twice as much ultraviolet light, resulting in a greater number of free electrons in the atmosphere and as a result, may result in a stronger on the planet electric field, “said Andrew Coates of the Laboratory of Mullard Science, UK, principal investigator for the electron spectrometer ASPERA-4 ESA.
the electric field is doing think that Venus really could have hosted large amounts of water in the past.
Other studies from NASA and ESA have been published previously on Venus. In September 2014, scientists warned that the atmosphere of Venus had two mysterious holes in the ionosphere – the electrically charged atmosphere, and they were studying layer. In turn in the month of June this year, it was published a study of ESA where the presence of hot lava on the planet is evident.
the ESA team in July 2015 indicated the presence of lava in the areas marked in the image. (ESA)
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