So, it seems that the Parker Solar Probe actually dipped into Venus' ionosphere on its way to the sun.
It recorded the natural radio signal Venus produces (all planets do this, including Earth, giving us more of an understanding of the extent of the Venusian atmosphere. Which apparently swells substantially during solar maximums then shrinks during minimums.
This might be a clue as to why Venus has such a thick atmosphere.
We also have more knowledge about the planet's spin (a day on Venus is in fact 243 Earth days...on average. The spin is unstable, varying by as much as 20 minutes, and that's probably because of that thick atmosphere. (Earth has a variation measured in a millisecond. ONE millisecond).
Venus' axial tilt is 2.6392 degrees (Earth's is 23), meaning Venus has essentially no seasons.
We also know that the core is about the same as Earth.
We still need to know a lot more about Earth's enigmatic twin.
No comments:
Post a Comment