[ad_1]
Venus, the hellish landscape of a grilled planet, bombarded by the radiations of our solar system, rainfed by sulfuric acid, may have already sheltered vast oceans … and could have been rather pleasant , in fact.
In fact, a place covered with water and conducive to life Venus Scientists have recently reported that this substance has probably persisted for 3 billion years.
But this idyllic period of Venus' past ended abruptly between 700 and 750 million years ago, when a near-global release of carbon dioxide (CO2) disrupted the atmosphere. the planet and triggered its transformation into "as we know it today, researchers said in a statement.
Related: 9 Most Earth-like Planets Most Intriguing
Venus and Earth could be planetary twins – well, almost. They are similar in size and mass, but that's where the resemblance ends. The surface temperature of Venus is 462 degrees Celsius (864 degrees Fahrenheit), warm enough to melt lead, according to NASA. The surface of Venus contains lava plains, craters, volcanoes and the mountains, but they are hidden under dense clouds of sulfuric acid. The atmosphere of the planet is mainly composed of CO2 and nitrogen, and is about 90 times thicker than Earth's atmosphere, Said NASA.
This fiercely inhospitable environment makes Venus unable to maintain most of life as we know it; Venus is sometimes called the "twisted sister" of the Earth.
Or does it? Once upon a time, this now warmer brother who had perhaps more in common with the Earth, such as abundant water, a stable climate and conditions conducive to life, said scientists. The researchers presented their findings on September 20 at the joint meeting of the European Congress of Planetary Science (EPSC) of the Europlanet Society in 2019 and the Planetary Science Division (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society. (AAS) in Geneva.
Using computer simulations, scientists have developed their earlier findings regarding the potential livability of Venus, which they published in the 2016 issue of the journal. Geophysical Research Letters. In this study, they described a slowly rotating young Venus, with habitable surface temperatures and an ocean of shallow liquid water.
This time, they tested their hypothesis with more variables in their models. They created five scenarios using different topographies for the surface of the planet. varying amounts of ocean coverage; and different chemical compositions in the atmosphere, said Michael Way, co-presenter, researcher at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
"We also modeled different times in time, which we had not done before," Way added. The models looked at Venus for three periods: about 4.2 billion years ago, shortly after its creation; about 715 million years ago; and as the so-called planet of hell appears today.
Venus is currently bombarded with twice as much solar radiation as the Earth, and some experts have suggested that she was too close to the sun for ever harboring the oceans. Nevertheless, the new models have shown that billions of years ago, this radiation would not have prevented Venus from having water on its surface, explained the scientists.
In the simulations, baby Venus cools quickly after training, developing a CO2-dominated atmosphere; The climate models of a young Earth developed by other scientists have also used a CO2-rich atmosphere, said Live Science Way. But 715 million years ago, nitrogen has become the most abundant atmospheric element.
In all of its simulations, Venus has maintained stable surface temperatures for about 3 billion years, ranging from 20 ° C (68 ° F) to 50 ° C (122 ° F). Under these conditions, liquid water – and possibly life – could have been achievable, the scientists said.
"If Venus had a surface with liquid water in her past, our models show that she could have had habitable conditions," Way said.
Originally published on Science live.
[ad_2]
Source link