Posted on 07/31/2009 4:07:15 PM PDT by TaraP
A sudden bright spot that appeared in the clouds of Venus just days after a comet left a bruise on Jupiter has scientists stumped as to its cause.
Venus' bright spot, first noticed by amateur astronomer Frank Melillo of Holtsville, NY on July 19, is not the first such brightening noticed on our cloudy neighbor, said planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"We have seen such events before," he told SPACE.com.
This time is a little different though because the brightening is confined to a smaller region, Limaye said. It also came in the wake of Jupiter's own new (dark) spot, believed to be the result of a comet impact — Limaye attributes the fortunate confluence of the two events for the attention Venus is now getting in the astronomical community.
After Melillo reported the spot, other amateur astronomers and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express spacecraft confirmed the presence of the blemish.
The new Venus Express images show that the bright spot actually appeared in the planet's southern hemisphere four days before Melillo saw it and that it has since begun to spread out, becoming stretched by the wind's in Venus' thick atmosphere.
But just what caused the brightening is still a mystery. Theories have abounded, from a volcanic eruption to solar particles interacting with the planet's atmosphere.
Limaye says the volcano explanation is unlikely, for several reasons: Volcanoes on Venus seem to be less likely to blow their tops in Mount St. Helens-type fashion, instead behaving more like the oozing lava factories of Hawaii, so their eruptions wouldn't likely produce huge clouds of ash and steam. Also, it is unlikely that the explosions would have the power to push through to the other layers of Venus' extremely dense atmosphere.
Limaye doesn't completely rule out the possibility, however. "It's possible, we just don't know," he said.
Another explanation is that a coronal mass ejection (an energetic plume of plasma from the sun's corona) or the solar wind could have interacted with the clouds of Venus.
These "could cause something, we don't know what," Limaye said.
Yet another possibility is some internal change in Venus' atmosphere that could alter cloud particles and make them more reflective (and therefore brighter as viewed from space).
"Clearly something in the cloud properties changed," Limaye said.
In 2010 the planet with the spot is Jupiter.
My God...it begins. The invasion to conquer.......oh that’s supposed to be Mars. Never mind.
I hope we are not entering a space full of asteroids or objects. The global economy could not withstand comet impacts.
Venusian climate change.
I’d be willing to bet that it’s an “ozone hole” caused by “global warming.” Of course, the NASA guys and a bunch of other kooks on this planet are currently wringing their hands over some shiny clouds they’ve been seeing on this planet. Could be aliens I guess.
The women are coming!
The WOMEN are coming!!!
CHANGES ON JUPITER: "On July 30th, it was evident that there is rapid evolution of Jupiter's impact debris cloud," reports amateur astronomer Raffaello Lena of Rome, Italy. "It is becoming very elongated." A polar projection shows the extent of the debris:
Up until now, it was Mars, Jupiter and other planets taking the wrath of Earth’s ‘solar’ wind of particles from Anthropogenic Global Warming. We only affected planets downstream of the solar wind. Now, based on this new data, we must conclude with consensus that Anthropogenic GW is getting SO INTENSE, its also able to surge upstream! Venus today... Mercury tomorrow... and then, we’re gonna be the cause of the demise of the Sun itself!
July 27th while flying onboard an Air France Boeing 777," reports photographer Radek Grochowski. "It was exciting to see them shining delicately electric-blue against almost black sky. The photo barely shows what you could see with your eyes." Add Mongolia to the list of unaccustomed places NLCs have been sighted this year...
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. MARK 13:31
Scientists: Loss of Appendages Stumps Venus
I can’t help it, but I have so much more respect for the guy on the left than the imposter on the right top corner of the picture.
G- Spot?
Another miss by the intergalatic weapons fired by the evil Lizardmaen of the Zargone zone.
First Jupiter, then the bracketing shot hits Venus...
We must find and take out their FiST team!
Oh forgot
Or we are DOOOOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEDDD (/bad echo effect)
All of these brilliant discoveries by amateur astronomers. Astounding.
I’m not a professional astronomer by a long-shot, and my telescope is not very good. But I think there’s a hole in Uranus...
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