Venus' Water Escape Riddle Potentially Unraveled: New Study Claims Solution to Longstanding Puzzle
Rewritten Article:
Venus' fiery reception
Some 4.5 billion years ago, Earth and Venus were born in the same star system, sharing similar sizes and structures. With Earth now teeming with life and Venus a scorching desert, it's a mystery of cosmic proportions: What transformed Venus from a watery world into an inferno?
New research from the University of Colorado Boulder could hold the key. Scientists have long suspected that Venus lost much of its water through a process called atmospheric escape — charged particles from the Sun blasting the planet and causing water molecules to flee. But where did the rest of the water go?
In a study published this week in Nature, planetary scientists propose a culprit: an ion called HCO+. This molecule, formed from one atom each of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, could be responsible for Venus' arid conditions by attracting and and breaking apart water molecules, causing hydrogen to escape into space.
"Venus is like a pizza oven," explains Eryn Cangi, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and co-lead author of the new paper. "We know that Mars is too cold and Venus is too hot, but they both lost water."
Although the study did not directly detect HCO+ in Venus' atmosphere, data from previous missions showed evidence of some of the molecules that react to form it. Upcoming missions to Venus, like VERITAS and DAVINCI, won't be equipped to measure the molecule, leading the researchers to suggest a future mission specifically designed to investigate the upper atmosphere of Venus.
"All models are to some extent wrong, but some are useful," Cangi says. "But a mission like that would really complement the upcoming Venus mission suite to help us complete the picture of water escape from Venus."
While the findings are intriguing, they're far from the complete story. Venus' extreme conditions are also due to its dominant atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which creates a powerful greenhouse effect, and its clouds laden with sulfuric acid. Understanding Venus' water loss will shed light on the factors that lead to habitable planets — or hellish ones.
Curious about Venus? Check out The 7 Weirdest Things About Venus, Hell Planet
Enrichment Insights:
- Venus' atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide (CO2), which traps heat and creates a strong greenhouse effect.
- The high sulfuric acid content in Venus' clouds contributes to its extreme conditions and acidic environment.
- Venus' high temperature and pressure prevent liquid water from existing on its surface, contributing to its arid conditions.
- HCO+, while important in many interstellar environments and cometary chemistry, does not have a specific, documented role in Venus' arid conditions or water loss. Its contribution to water loss on Venus may be indirect, through the escape of gases from Venus' atmosphere, influenced by solar wind interactions and the planet's weak magnetic field.
- The study published in Nature suggests that an ion called HCO+, formed from hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen atoms, could be responsible for Venus' current arid conditions by attracting and broke water molecules, causing hydrogen to escape into space.
- Venus' extreme conditions are not only due to the dominant atmosphere of carbon dioxide, creating a powerful greenhouse effect, but also the high sulfuric acid content in its clouds.
- Eryn Cangi, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, explains that Venus is similar to a pizza oven, with both Mars and Venus losing water in their respective environments.
- Understanding Venus' water loss, influenced by reactions involving the ion HCO+, will shed light on the factors that lead to habitable planets or those resembling a fiery inferno like Venus.
