Robby
02-26-2008, 08:43 AM
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0802/venussouth_vexpress.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0802/venussouth_vexpress_big.jpg)
Mysterious Acid Haze on Venus
Credit: ESA (http://www.esa.int/)/MPS (http://www.mps.mpg.de/en/), Katlenburg-Lindau (http://www.katlenburg-lindau.de/), Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany)
Explanation: Why did an acidic haze spread across Venus? The unusual clouds were discovered last July by ESA (http://www.esa.int/)'s robotic Venus Express (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Express) spacecraft currently orbiting Venus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus). The bright and smooth haze (http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMIVTVHJCF_index_0.html) was found by Venus Express to be rich in sulfuric acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid), created when an unknown process lifted water vapor and sulphur dioxide (http://www.epa.gov/oar/urbanair/so2/index.html) from lower levels into Venus' upper atmosphere (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040516.html). There, sunlight broke these molecules apart and some of them recombined into the volatile sulfuric acid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPGRtUPyvs8). Over the course of just a few days last July, the smooth acidic clouds spread from the South Pole of Venus (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070501.html) across half the planet. The above false-color picture (http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&topic=Solar%20System&subtopic=Venus&single=y&start=14) of Venus was taken last July 23rd in ultraviolet light (http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/uv.html), and shows the unusual haze as relatively smooth regions across the image bottom. The cause of the dark streaks (http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMIVTVHJCF_index_0.html) in the clouds is also not yet understood and is being researched.
(Via NASA (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080226.html))
Mysterious Acid Haze on Venus
Credit: ESA (http://www.esa.int/)/MPS (http://www.mps.mpg.de/en/), Katlenburg-Lindau (http://www.katlenburg-lindau.de/), Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany)
Explanation: Why did an acidic haze spread across Venus? The unusual clouds were discovered last July by ESA (http://www.esa.int/)'s robotic Venus Express (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Express) spacecraft currently orbiting Venus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus). The bright and smooth haze (http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMIVTVHJCF_index_0.html) was found by Venus Express to be rich in sulfuric acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid), created when an unknown process lifted water vapor and sulphur dioxide (http://www.epa.gov/oar/urbanair/so2/index.html) from lower levels into Venus' upper atmosphere (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040516.html). There, sunlight broke these molecules apart and some of them recombined into the volatile sulfuric acid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPGRtUPyvs8). Over the course of just a few days last July, the smooth acidic clouds spread from the South Pole of Venus (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070501.html) across half the planet. The above false-color picture (http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&topic=Solar%20System&subtopic=Venus&single=y&start=14) of Venus was taken last July 23rd in ultraviolet light (http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/uv.html), and shows the unusual haze as relatively smooth regions across the image bottom. The cause of the dark streaks (http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMIVTVHJCF_index_0.html) in the clouds is also not yet understood and is being researched.
(Via NASA (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080226.html))