{"id":25422,"date":"2023-03-16T12:18:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=139002"},"modified":"2023-03-16T12:35:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:35:46","slug":"space-volcano-astronomers-find-evidence-of-eruption-on-venus-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/space-volcano-astronomers-find-evidence-of-eruption-on-venus-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Space volcano: Astronomers find evidence of eruption on Venus for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Images taken by the Magellan space probe in the 1990s show evidence of volcanic eruptions and magma flow. <\/p>

By Jason Goodyer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 16 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Volcanic eruptions and magma flows could be taking place on the surface of Venus<\/a>, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute have found.<\/p>\n

The team studied data collected by NASA\u2019s Magellan space probe in the 1990s, taking advantage of new computer technology that allows them to compare digital images more efficiently.<\/p>\n

Their analysis focused on an area containing two of Venus\u2019 largest volcanoes, Ozza and Maat Mons. They discovered a roughly 2.5km^{2<\/sup> volcanic vent that changed shape and altered in size over eight months in 1991 on Maat Mons. On Earth, changes of this magnitude are often indications of volcanic activity.<\/p>\n}

\u201cIt is really only in the last decade or so that the Magellan data has been available at full resolution, mosaicked and easily manipulable by an investigator with a typical personal workstation,\u201d said Robert Herrick<\/a>, a research professor at UAF who led the research.<\/p>\n

\u201cOzza and Maat Mons are comparable in volume to Earth\u2019s largest volcanoes but have lower slopes and thus are more spread out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers compared two images of the north side of a domed shield volcano that is part of Maat Mons \u2013 one taken in February 1991, and one taken in October 1991.<\/p>\n

Over this period, the vent had changed from being a circular shape of around 2.5km^{2<\/sup> to a wobbly shape of around 3.75km^{2<\/sup>. The later image shows that the walls of the vent became shorter, indicating an eruption, and that the irregular shape could have been formed by magma flow during the eight months between the images, the researchers say.<\/p>\n}}

There is one small caveat: the change in shape of the vent may have been caused by an earthquake. However, on Earth, vent collapses on this scale are always accompanied by nearby volcanic eruptions.<\/p>\n

Volcanic activity on Venus could be further confirmed by current missions such as NASA\u2019s DAVINCI+ and Veritas and ESA\u2019s EnVision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can now say that Venus is presently volcanically active in the sense that there are at least a few eruptions per year,\u201d said Herrick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can expect that the upcoming Venus missions will observe new volcanic flows that have occurred since the Magellan mission ended three decades ago, and we should see some activity occurring while the two upcoming orbital missions are collecting images.\u201d<\/p>\n