Venus is a pretty weird planet in many ways.
For starters, it’s the hottest planet in our solar system, with surface temperatures that can melt lead. This is due to its thick atmosphere, which traps heat and creates a runaway greenhouse effect. In fact, the temperature on Venus is hot enough to bake a pizza in just a few seconds!
Another weird thing about Venus is that it rotates in the opposite direction of most other planets in our solar system, meaning its day is longer than its year. Scientists aren’t entirely sure why this is the case, but it’s thought to be the result of a massive collision with another object early in its history.
Venus also has some pretty extreme weather patterns, with hurricane-force winds that can whip around the planet in just a few days.
But things can get even weirder when it comes to Venus.
Things heat up a lot on Venus
NASA scientists have used 30-year-old data from the Magellan mission to better understand the heat loss of Venus to space. They discovered that the planet’s surface might be “squishy,” allowing it to release internal warmth, as Futurism reveals.
Unlike Earth, Venus does not have tectonic plates, making it challenging to understand where its heat goes. The researchers studied previously unstudied geological features called coronae and found that they tend to be where the lithosphere is thinnest, which suggests there could be volcanic activity underneath.
A study using data from @NASA's Magellan mission has found that Venus' 'squishy' outer shell may be resurfacing the planet. This new information could help us better understand how Earth's tectonics began over 2.5 billion years ago! https://t.co/vjmCa4ZgIB pic.twitter.com/kkjThR2RGt
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) February 23, 2023
You may have already guessed that Venus cannot possibly be a suitable destination for your next vacation. It truly has hellish conditions, which is weird considering that the planet is often described as being Earth’s twin. The two planets have roughly the same size and they are both positioned in the Goldilocks Zone of our Solar System.
The new findings were published in Nature Geoscience.
