Bright Spot on Venus Stumps Scientists..... (No Clue)

Space.Com ^ | July 30th, 2009

[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.

[TaraP]

Mystery world This is not the first time astronomers have spotted bright features in Venus's atmosphere. Bright spots have been seen from Earth for decades, although they have not been clearly explained, Limaye says. The most recent dramatic brightening occurred in January 2007, when areas in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet brightened. Because it is localised in a spot, this new feature looks different, but it is equally mysterious. "This shows how much we don't know about Venus," Limaye says. In some ways, Venus is a simpler planet than Earth – it has no oceans and because of its nearly vertical spin axis, practically no seasons, he adds. But planetary scientists still do not understand what causes the planet's atmosphere to rotate 60 times faster than the planet itself.

[LukeL]

As Venus has a thicker more dense atmosphere, it also has stronger air pressure. If some fringe theories are correct changes in atmospheric pressure and tidal forces can cause a volcano to erupt due to drop in pressure.

If this is true a pyroclastic eruption could take longer to occur to due to air pressure which would make the eruption all the more violent, perhaps big enough to be spotted from Earth.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Hey, maybe this is what CGEB was on about several years ago...

[Raycpa]

[CaptRon]

It’s the aura reflecting off the White House.

[Islander7]

LOL! I saw that movies as a kid.

[steveo]

[Quix]

Another sign in the heavens, it seems to me.

[George from New England]

“Amateurs” are most times the first line of defense against the criminals. Carry often and carry safe.

[gusopol3]

Yeah, me too. It is the first movie I remember (that I saw at a theater), I’ve just been watching it on Youtube, they have about 10 segments . This is the first link, if you’re interested:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=twenty+million+miles+to+earth&search_type=&aq=f

[Dead Corpse]

Dude... I told you the mix on that batch of deuterium was too rich. The reaction was bound to be VERY energetic. Not MEGAjoules but PETAjoules. It’s exponential instead of multiplicative...

[SunkenCiv]

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.

[grin]

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[Right Wing Assault]

And the Venusians will be surprised to find out that that new bright spot on earth is just our new president basking in his own glow.

[MHGinTN]

No, this article is about the twinkle in her eye ...

[BenLurkin]

And They Mean Business --- --- ---

[NicknamedBob]

"Dude... I told you the mix on that batch of deuterium was too rich. The reaction was bound to be VERY energetic."

If you'll recall, I want the deuterium flowing the other way.

Venus doesn't have much water, but what there is is very concentrated in deuterium. It should make a good export crop.

I think we need some more on-the-scene investigators. Guess I better get back to work on the flying saucer and the Venus-adapted spiderbots.

You might want to think about armaments for them.

[Rodamala]

I'd hit it let that hit me... all 3 of em.

[ThomasThomas]

PETA?

[SunkenCiv]

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