Venus - University of Oregonhomework.uoregon.edu/pub/class/121/venus.pdfVenus • Similar to Earth...
Transcript of Venus - University of Oregonhomework.uoregon.edu/pub/class/121/venus.pdfVenus • Similar to Earth...
Venus
Venus
• SimilartoEarthin– size(95%diameterofEarth)
– density(95%ofEarth)– mass(82%ofEarth’smass)– Hasanatmosphere!
Thickcloudlayerobscuressurface.Beforeeraofsatellites,itwasbelievedthatVenuswasaswampy,warmplanetthatharboredlife.
• Mariner2(1962)wasfirstsuccessfulmissiontoVenus(therewere4beforethisthatfailedforvariousreasons)
• Orbitedtheplanet.Foundthat:• VenusisHot(~500degCor900degF)• VenushasliUleornomagneVcfield• Nowaterinatmosphere(97%CO2)• Mariner5detectedatmosphericpressure90xthatofEarth’s.
MarinerMissions
• Venera7wasthefirstsatellitetolandonVenusand“lived”for23minutesbeforepressure,heatandsulfuricaciddropletskilledit.
• Venera8measuredlightlevels.Lightenoughforpictures.• Venera9tooktheveryfirstopVcalimagesofthesurface.
Bunchofrocks,onalavabed.Didn’tlastlongeither.• Venera10‐14tookmoreimages,lifeVmearound~2hours
VeneraMissions
Venera9Images
• Venusrotatesveryslowly(243Earthdays).AVenusiandayislongerthanaVenusianyear(225Earthdays).
• RotaVonisretrograde,sunrisesinwestandsetsineast.• SlowrotaVon–causedbyfricVonaldragofatmosphere.• SmallinducedmagneVcfieldfrominteracVonofsolarwind
andIonosphere.
OtherVenusFacts
• SincedensityandsizeofVenusaresimilartoEarth,thencoreshouldbesimilartoEarth’score.Magnetosphereshouldbesimilaraswell.
• ButsmallVenus’intrinsicmagneVcfieldisafracVonofEarth’s(~1/100000).Weird.Possiblyduetosolidcore,nomoltenoutercoretocreatedynamoandinducemagneVcfield.
MoreVenusFacts
• FromtheperspecVveoftheEarth,Venushasphaseslikeourmoon.ThisisbecauseVenusislocatedinsidetheorbitoftheEarth.AndunlikeMars,JupiterandotherplanetsoutsideEarth’sorbit,wedon’talwaysseethesunlitside
• Cloudsarecomposedofsulfuricacid(H2SO4,reallynastycorrosivestuff)whichstartat50kmabovethesurface.BelowthisalVtude,theatmosphereappearsclear.
EvenMoreVenusFacts
• CO2andH2Oaregreenhousegases–transparenttoopVcallightbutabsorbalotofinfraredlight(heat).
• Sunemitslightprimarilyinvisiblepartofspectrum.Thisgetsabsorbedorreflectedbyplanet.
• Theplanetemitslightitself–ininfrared.Carbondioxideandwatervaporabsorbinfraredandare“transparent”tovisiblelight.
• DumpingmoreCO2andH2Ovaporintoatmosphereincreasestheamountofgreenhousegasestherebyincreasingthetemperature.
GreenhouseEffect
• Temperatureofsurfacereachesboilingpoint(100Cor212F)ofwater.Waterevaporatesfromoceans,dumpingH2Ointoatmosphere‐>increasingtemp‐>acceleraVngtheevaporaVon‐>dumpsmorewaterintosky‐>increasestempandsoon….
• NotethatVenustemperatureiswaybeyondtheboilingpointofwater,soyeah,Venusatmosphereistheproductofrunawaygreenhouseeffect.
• Watermoleculesrisetotopofatmospherearebrokenapart,andblastedawaybysolarwind.
RunawayGreenhouseEffect
• Problem–howdoyouexplorethesurfaceofVenuswhen– a.eachlandingprobethrownatittransmitsfor~1hour…NotenoughVme!
– b.orbiterscan’tseethroughheavyclouds• SoluVon!Radarmapping• PioneerVenusProbes(1978)werethefirsttodothis.
• MagellanMission(1990‐1994)highlysuccessfulathighresoluVonimaging…..buthowdoesradarwork?
Neededmoredata…
• RadarstandsforRAdioDetecVonAndRanging.
• Asourceemitsapulseofradiowaves.Thesewavesbounceoffa“target”(planetsurface).
• ThewavesbounceinalldirecVons,however,somecomebackinthedirecVonofthesource.
• Conveniently,aUachedtothissourceisadetectorandreceiverthatmeasurestheVmeittakesforthewavetotravelthedistance.
• Inmathterms:Distance=3mexspeedofpulse/2.
– Thespeedofthepulseisspeedoflight(300,000km/s)
– thefactor2isneededtoaccountforthewavetravelingtoandawayfromtarget.
Radarsimplified
• AmazingHiresradarmaps:
MagellanResults
• Found:– NoindicaVonofoceans(atleastinlast500millionyears).Noerosion.
– TectonicacVvityisnonexistent• randomlydistributedvolcanoes(notonplateboundaries)
• faultlinesexist,butnotsimilartoridges/rinsonEarth• NosubducVonzones
– Millionsofvolcanoes,butnoapparentongoinglavaflow.VolcanoesmaybeacVvebutpresentlythereisnosolidevidence.
– SurfaceisrelaVvelyyoung300‐500Myrs
MagellanResults
• ChainsofVolcanoes–likeHawaiianIsland“hotspot”formaVon.– ButthisispartofseveralrandomlyspreadvolcanicformaVons.
MagellanResults
• NewweirdfeatureswithnoanalogonEarth– Coronae(100km‐1000km)probablycausedbymagmaliningthesurface,coolsthensinksformingcircularrings.
– Arachnoids(precursortoCoronae?)Smallerversionsofcoronaewithradiallines.
MagellanResults
• SimilarfeaturestoEarth:– Shieldvolcanoes(flatvolcanoescausedbylavaflowaccumulaVon)
– Caldera‐>Howcanonetellthedifferencebetweenimpactcratersandvolcanoes?
MagellanResults
ImpactcratersvsVolcanicCraters
• Impactcraters:– centralpeak– sharpedges
• Volcanoes– BullseyeridgepaUern– smoothcraterfloor
– rounded/flaUenedrim– lavaflow
Isthiscausedbyameteororvolcano?
Impactcraters
• Nosmallcraters,meteoritesareprobablydestroyedinatmosphere.
• Craterclustersexist–largermeteoritesbreakupbeforeimpact
• Alsoalackoflargecratersindicatesresurfacedarea.