. 24/7 Space News .
The Puzzling Eye Of A Hurricane On Venus

This image, of the 'eye of the hurricane' on Venus was taken by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board Venus Express. This picture shows a region in the venusian atmosphere about 60 km from the surface, at a wavelength of about 5 micrometres. In this figure, the dipole assumes an eye-like shape and from here until the last image, it is possible to see how its shape evolves rapidly in a span of only 24 hours. The yellow dot in the image indicates the location of the south pole. Credits: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA/Univ. of Oxford
by Staff Writers
Paris, France (ESA) Mar 14, 2008
Venus Express has constantly been observing the south pole of Venus and has found it to be surprisingly fickle. An enormous structure with a central part that looks like the eye of a hurricane, morphs and changes shape within a matter of days, leaving scientists puzzled.

The eye of the hurricane is at the centre of a 2000 km-wide vortex. It was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. There is a similar structure on the planet's north pole, which was observed by the Pioneer Venus mission in 1979.

Venus Express scientists have been studying the structure in the thermal infrared, the wavelength range which reveals the temperature at the cloud-tops. Seen in this wavelength, the core of the vortex appears very bright, probably indicating that a lot of atmospheric gases are moving downward in the region, which creates a depression at the cloud-tops, making the region hotter. "Simply put, the enormous vortex is similar to what you might see in your bathtub once you have pulled out the plug" says Giuseppe Piccioni, co-Principal Investigator for the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Venus Express, at IASF-INAF, Rome, Italy. The fickle puzzle

In June 2006, the vortex appeared hourglass-shaped, closely matching observations in the north polar region by Pioneer Venus. Now we know that it changes its shape within a matter of days, from orbit to orbit. The image taken on 26 February 2007 shows the 'classic' dipole shape at the centre of the vortex, similar to that which has been observed previously. But an image taken a mere 24 hours earlier shows the centre of the vortex to be almost circular, indicating that the shape of this feature can change very fast. At other times, it is typically oval.

The dynamic nature of the vortex can be seen clearly in the video. It shows that the vortex is very complex, with atmospheric gases flowing in different directions at different altitudes. What creates the puzzle?

Scientists are not sure what actually creates the vortex. Colin Wilson, at the University of Oxford, says, "One explanation is that atmospheric gases heated by the Sun at the equator, rise and then move poleward. In the polar regions, they converge and sinks again. As the gases moves towards the poles, they are deflected sideways because of the planet's rotation."

The dynamic nature of this vortex is similar to behaviour observed in other vortices on Earth, including those observed at the centre of hurricanes.

Investigators will keep a close watch on the polar region and its variability, in order to gain a better understanding of how it works.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Looking at Venus
Venus Express News and Venusian Science



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


The Light And Dark Of Venus
Paris, France (SPX) Feb 22, 2008
Venus Express has revealed a planet of extraordinarily changeable and extremely large-scale weather. Bright hazes appear in a matter of days, reaching from the south pole to the low southern latitudes and disappearing just as quickly. Such 'global weather', unlike anything on Earth, has given scientists a new mystery to solve.







  • NASA Readies Hardware For Test Of Astronaut Escape System
  • Successful Manoeuvres Position Jules Verne ATV For Crucial Tests
  • Russia Dumps Korean Astro Boy For Astro Girl In Textbook Scandal
  • Space tourism: The next frontier?

  • Women Drivers On Mars
  • HiRISE Discovers A Possibly Once-Habitable Ancient Mars Lake
  • Mechdyne Enables Virtual Reality Of Mission To Mars
  • Mars And Venus Are Surprisingly Similar

  • United Launch Alliance Inaugural Atlas V West Coast Launch A Success
  • Falcon 1 To Launch Operationally Responsive Space Satellite On Next Flight
  • Europe Launches Jules Verne Robot Space Freighter
  • Sea Launch Prepares For The Launch Of DirecTV 11

  • Falcon Investigates Pollution From The Dakar Metropolis Into Desert Dust Layers
  • NASA Extends Mission For Ball Aerospace-Built ICESat
  • CIRA Scientist Among Authors Of Book Celebrating 50 Years Of Earth Observations From Space
  • Indonesia To Develop New EO Satellite

  • New Horizons Crosses 9 AU
  • ASU Research Solves Solar System Quandary
  • Happy Second Birthday New Horizons
  • The PI's Perspective: Autumn 2007: Onward to the Kuiper Belt

  • Europe Astrophysicists Study How Stars Evolve And Elements Are Formed In Cosmos
  • The Last Confessions Of A Dying Star
  • Small Helper Stars Needed For Massive Star Formation
  • Dirty Space And Supernovae

  • NASA prepares for Moonbuggy Race
  • New Lunar South Polar Maps From SMART-1
  • NASA Ames Selected For Return To Moon Team
  • Preparation For The Next Lunar Landing Leaps Across The Generation Gap

  • CEVA And HuaXun Partner To Deliver Software GPS Solution
  • Intuicom Launches NAVNET SERIES Of RF Datalinks For Military And Aerospace Market
  • Digital Angel Enters LifeChip Distribution Agreement With The Jockey Club
  • Tech Data US Enters Partnership With Outdoor Wireless Networking

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement