Surf's Up on Venus; Huge Gravity Wave Observed on Venus by Japanese Orbiter
An atmospheric gravity wave was observed by the Japanese orbiter, Akatsuki, in the upper cloud layer of Venus.
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The atmospheric wave extends over 6,000 miles across the Venusian surface. It is thought that the mountain topography on Venus propagated the clouds upward causing the observed bow wave. The atmosphere of Venus is made up of 96% carbon dioxide with thick clouds of sulphuric acid that speed around the planet (about 60 times) faster than its rotation. Venus has a mean surface temperature of 863 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Makoto Taguchi of Tokyo's Rikkyo University has published his observations of the Venusian atmospheric gravity wave in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Akatsuki
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The Akatsuki orbiter was launched 21 May 2010. The orbiter was inserted into its Venusian orbit on 9 December 2015. There are 4 cameras on-board that continuously send images back to Earth as it orbits Venus.
Sources and Full Articles
Giant gravity wave spotted on Venus, CNET, 16 January 2017
Venus Climate Orbiter "AKATSUKI" (PLANET-C)
Interesting, gravity wave affecting the atmosphere across the whole planet. Thanks for sharing.
While the effect is causes by gravity, a better analogy is a ocean wave. Think of it as a huge wave propagating through the atmosphere of Venus. The thickness of the atmosphere of Venus also contributes to the phenomenon.
At first I thought it was like a gravity wave caused by two black holes colliding. The article states it is not that kind of gravity wave. Although on a very infinitesimal scale (current instruments are not sensitive enough to detect) the wave is distorting gravity.
Thanks for your comment! It is a thought provoking article.
Steem on,
Mike
Its very interesting and great story, good job and do it more!! :)
Thank you!
When I retire later this year. I promise to be more diligent in finding and researching these stories. But alas, I do have a day-time job where I spend a lot of time.
Steem on,
Mike