Venus is leaking carbon and oxygen

A significant amount of gases, including carbon and oxygen, are being "pulled" from Venus' atmosphere, according to data from the BepiColombo spacecraft during its second flyby of the planet from the sun.

Venus is often called Earth's "evil" twin, because the planet is almost the same size but has deadly characteristics.

Venus. (Photo: NASA).

Venus is notorious for its atmosphere rich in toxic carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) compounds, with surface temperatures of up to 470 degrees Celsius.

In the past, Venus probably contained the most significant amount of CO ₂ on its surface. However, the second planet from the Sun is undergoing intense change in its later stages.

And data transmitted by the BepiColombo spacecraft on its way to Mercury found that Venus's upper atmosphere is leaking many gases, including carbon and oxygen.

The BepiColombo mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) coordinates with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to explore Mercury. The spacecraft had the opportunity to observe Venus for 90 minutes while flying by the planet.

"This is the first time we have observed positively charged ion particles of carbon 'fleeing' from the atmosphere of Venus ," according to author Lina Hadid, researcher at the Plasma Physics Laboratory (France).

Ms. Hadid's team said that the latest discovery could help researchers in their efforts to understand why Earth's sister planet had to undergo a tragic evolution and lose all of its water. planet, as reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Future missions such as ESA's Envision and NASA's VERITAS orbiter will allow researchers to collect more detailed data about the environment on Venus, including the atmosphere.