Venus, the second closest planet to the sun, and Earth's closest neighbor, is not a place
where you'd want to spend your vacation.
The atmosphere is corrosive, scorching-hot, and extremely toxic.
But recently, scientists have discovered that millions of years ago, Venus was probably
nothing like the uninhabitable, hostile world it is today!
About 700 million years ago, I wasn’t around then, a mysterious event that occurred may
have turned Venus into the place it is now.
Admittedly, astronomers can't see the surface of the planet directly, because it's covered
with dense layers of thick clouds.
But space missions that’ve been sent to the hot planet found that Venus is peppered
with fire-breathing volcanoes, massive mountains, countless craters, and gigantic lava plains.
The temperatures on the planet are so incredibly high that they could melt lead.
And the atmospheric pressure is so immense that it would instantly crush any living being
reckless enough to set foot on it.
If that’s not enough, the atmosphere of the planet is filled with noxious clouds of
sulfuric acid, which smells worse than rotten eggs.
Carbon dioxide (the main component of Venus's atmosphere), along with the infamous sulfuric
acid, create a powerful greenhouse effect.
As a result, the lower atmosphere and the surface of the planet are some of the hottest
places in the whole Solar System!
But the newest scientific theory claims that Venus could’ve had a pleasant, stable climate
for billions of years before something went wrong.
Astronomers did thorough research and built a model of a virtualized Venus-like world.
This model demonstrated that for most of its history, the hot planet had oceans with liquid
water, adequate temperatures, and stable tectonic plates.
In fact, the planet resembled Earth as it used to be at the beginning of its life.
Scientists suppose that this period of Earth-like development could’ve lasted for more than
3 billion years!
So, during that time, the planet was most likely covered with oceans, which were from
30 to 1,000 ft deep.
Also, some water was locked in the soil of the planet.
On top of that, Venus had stable temperatures of 68 to 122 degrees F, which - you have to
admit - were quite pleasant, and not that different from the temperatures on Earth nowadays.
So, what I'm getting at is that for 3 billion years, right until something irrevocable happened
700 million years ago, Venus could’ve been habitable!
What exactly made Earth's sister planet turn into a sweltering inferno still remains a
mystery.
However, researchers have several ideas about what it could’ve been.
The main theory links the dramatic changes on Venus with a massive geological event which
made more than 80% of the planet resurface.
Plus, during this catastrophe, huge amounts of magma started to bubble up and release
tons of CO2 (aka carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere.
Now, when something like this happens on Earth, rocks absorb most of the CO2 gas and, thus,
effectively remove its excess from the atmosphere.
But on Venus, it all went terribly wrong.
The magma solidified on the surface of the planet, covering the rocks with a thick, impenetrable
layer.
And this barrier prevented the rocks from reabsorbing the CO2.
Similar large-scale outgassing happened on Earth about 500 million years ago, I wasn’t
around then, creating the infamous Siberian Trap, and probably led to mass extinction.
But even this event was nothing like the tragedy that unfolded on Venus.
The atmosphere on the planet soon became 90 times as dense as on Earth.
It’s no wonder that, combined with enormous amounts of CO2, it led to a runaway greenhouse
effect.
As a result, the temperature on the planet rose up to a staggering 864 degrees F. On
top of that, so much solar radiation started to hit the poor planet that it simply couldn't
maintain liquid water on its surface anymore.
These conditions obviously wouldn’t have been particularly inviting for any living
thing to have survived on the planet.
At the same time, scientists are almost sure that before that catastrophic turning point,
there could’ve been life on Venus.
But before the researchers can say for sure, they need to figure out two important things.
First, they have to understand whether the catastrophe that led to such dramatic changes
on Venus was a single event, or a series of events that’d been happening for billions
of years.
And secondly, astronomers have to find out if the planet could have condensed liquid
water in the first place.
That means further research, and definite answers will only be possible after more missions
are sent to explore Venus.
This way, scientists will be able to understand the planet's evolution and history better.
But in any case, the chances are high that these missions will prove that Venus used
to be habitable, and very different from what it is now.
And it’ll open all kinds of possibilities for humankind!
You see, even though the climate of Venus changed so dramatically, and the planet seems
to be totally uninhabitable, scientists don't deny that one day the hot planet could be
transformed again!
They say that since the planet had a stable climate before, there’s a chance that it
could be maintained again.
And if people did some ecological engineering there, the changes would probably stick!
And how about you?
Do you believe that one day, Venus could turn into a beautiful world covered with oceans?
Write about your opinion in the comments section below!
And now, how about some more curious facts about Venus, one of Earth's closest neighbors!
- It takes the light from the sun just 6 minutes to reach Venus.
- This planet has the most circular orbit of all the planets in the Solar System.
- Paradoxically, one day on Venus is longer than one year.
See for yourself: it takes the planet 243 Earth days to make a full turn on its axis.
At the same time, Venus makes one revolution around the sun in 224 Earth days.
- Venus has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System.
Astronomers have already discovered up to 1,600 on the surface, but there might be others,
too small for people to see.
Most of these volcanoes aren't active anymore, but there are some that could still be bubbling.
- The tallest mountain on Venus is Maxwell Montes.
With a height of 29,000 ft, it's almost as tall as Mount Everest.
- Winds on Venus can reach incredible speeds.
In the middle cloud layer of the atmosphere, they can accelerate up to 450 miles per hour!
And that's faster than the swiftest tornado on our planet.
- There are no seasons on Venus, and one of the reasons is the tilt of its axis, which
is less than 3 degrees.
For comparison, Earth's axial tilt is about 23 degrees.
That's why the hemisphere that’s pointed toward the Sun gets much more energy than
the one that faces away.
- Venus’ slow rotation causes its magnetic field to be way weaker than that of Earth.
- The hot planet rotates in the opposite direction of the sun, and most other planets in the
Solar System.
This phenomenon is known as retrograde rotation.
The most probable reason for it could be a powerful collision with a huge space body,
for example, an asteroid.
- If you visited Venus, you wouldn't be able to see the Earth or the sun because of the
super-dense clouds that always cover the sky of the planet.
Well hot dang, where’s my credit card, I’m ready to book my Venus Vacation right now!
Um, nah.
- Despite scorching temperatures and mega-dense atmosphere, Venus is often called Earth's
twin.
More like Earth’s Evil Twin.
You see, both planets are approximately the same size.
What's more, the composition of Venus is like that of our planet.
And finally, the orbit of our neighbor is the closest to Earth's.
- Venus is one of the very few planets we can see crossing in front of the sun.
Unfortunately, it happens very rarely.
In fact, since people invented the telescope, they've managed to see the transit of Venus
no more than 7 or 8 times.
- Venus is the brightest planet in the sky.
And, it's the second brightest celestial object, after the Moon.
So Venus used to be a nice place, a lot like Earth, and now it’s not.
Greenhouse gases and stuff gone terribly wrong.
Boy, I hope they don’t say that about Earth someday.
Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a
friend!
And here are some other videos I think you'll enjoy.
Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!