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Vocabulary > Space > Venus
In this composite image provided by NASA,
the SDO satellite captures the path sequence
of the transit of Venus
across the face of the sun at on June 5-6 as
seen from space.
The last transit was in 2004 and the next
pair of events
will not happen again until the year 2117
and 2125.
NASA via Getty Images
Boston Globe > Big Picture > Transit of
Venus June 6, 2012
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/06/transit_of_venus.html
An image provided by NASA,
the SDO satellite captures a ultra-high
definition image of the Transit of Venus
across the face of the sun at on June 5 from
space.
The last transit was in 2004 and the next
pair of events will not happen again
until the year 2117 and 2125.
NASA
Boston Globe > Big Picture > 2012 Year in
Pictures: Part II December 19, 2012
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/12/2012_year_in_pictures_part_ii.html
The Guardian p. 1 9.6.2004
Venus
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/venus
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1751894,00.html
transit of Venus across the Sun
2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/03/transit-venus-last-chance-2117
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/mar/25/venus-transit-sun
Venus Has Frequent Bursts of Lightning
November 28, 2007
Filed at 10:14 p.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearby Venus is looking a bit more
Earth-like with frequent bursts of lightning confirmed by a new European space
probe.
For nearly three decades, astronomers have said Venus probably had lightning --
ever since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of electrical activity in its
atmosphere. But experts weren't sure because of signal interference.
Now a magnetic antenna on the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe proved
that the lightning was real.
''We consider this to be the first definitive evidence of abundant lighting on
Venus,'' David Grinspoon of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science told
reporters Wednesday at a briefing in Paris.
The finding is significant because lightning affects atmospheric chemistry, so
scientists will have to take it into account as they try to understand the
atmosphere and climate of Venus, he said.
The lightning is cloud-to-cloud and about 35 miles above the surface, said
University of California, Los Angeles geophysics professor C.T. Russell, lead
author of a paper on the Venusian fireworks. It is being published in Thursday's
issue of the journal Nature.
Bursts of electrical energy from lightning are something that scientists have
long theorized could provide the spark of life in primordial ooze.
But not on Venus.
''If life was ever something serious to talk about on Venus, it would be early
in its history, not in its current state,'' said Sean Solomon of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, who was not part of the research team. ''It's a very
unforgiving atmosphere.''
The idea of Earth-like lightning is fascinating, Russell said. However, you
couldn't see it from Venus' surface, nor would you want to look because the
Venusian atmosphere is 100 times more dense than Earth's, is about 900 degrees
hotter and has clouds of sulfuric acid, he said.
''It may be Earth's 'evil twin,' but it is in many respects Earth's twin,''
Russell said.
What excites astronomers most about the lightning discovery is simply the
coolness factor.
Venus' weather forecasts have long thought to be ''kind of boring ... steady
winds for the next 400 years,'' said Allan Treiman, a senior scientist at the
Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, who isn't affiliated with the
research. The idea of lightning, he said, adds a spark to Venus' weather.
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AP science writer Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature
Venus Express: http://www.esa.int/venus
Venus Has Frequent
Bursts of Lightning, NYT, 28.11.2007,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Venus-Lightning.html
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