New evidence reveals volcanoes are active on Venus

A new study, led by the University Space Research Association (USRA), published Tuesday in Science Advances shows that the lava flow on Venus may be only a few years old, showing the planet. are active volcanoes. Apart from our Earth, this discovery makes Venus the only planet in the Solar System to have had recent eruptions.

Image of Mount Idunn Mons (at latitude 46 degrees south, 214.5 degrees east longitude) in the Imdr Regio area of ​​Venus.

Dr Justin Filiberto, lead author of the study, said: "If Venus really had an active volcano, it would be a great place to visit. We can study how the planets cool along with why Earth and Venus have active volcanoes, but Mars does not. Future missions will be able to see currents and changes on the surface and provide concrete evidence of the activity of it".

Radar images from NASA's Magellan spacecraft in the early 1990s revealed Venus, our neighboring planet, is a world of vast volcanoes and lava flows. In the 2000s, the Venus Express satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) illuminated a new volcano on Venus by measuring the amount of infrared light emitted from a part of Venus' surface at night. night. These new data allow scientists to determine the flow of fresh lava compared to changes on Venus' surface. Until recently, however, information about the age of lava eruptions and volcanoes on Venus had not been recorded due to many obstacles.

Dr. Filiberto and his colleagues recreated the hot atmosphere of Venus in the lab to observe how Venus's minerals respond and change over time. The results of their experiments show that these lava flows on Venus are very young, which shows that Venus actually has active volcanoes.

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