Venus may be a (slightly) gentler place than some scientists give it credit for.
In new research, space physicists at CU Boulder have jumped into a surprisingly long-running debate in solar system science: Does lightning strike on the second planet from the sun?
The team’s results add strong new evidence suggesting that, no, you probably wouldn’t see bolts of lightning flashing from Venus’ thick, acidic clouds—or, at least, not very often.
“There’s been debate about lightning on Venus for close to 40 years,” said Harriet George, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). “Hopefully, with our newly available data, we can help to reconcile that debate.”
She and her team published their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
2023-10-03 04:00:04
Article from phys.org