NASA model suggests Venus could have hosted life millions of years ago
Postmedia Network and The Washington Post
First posted: Friday, August 12, 2016 02:23 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, August 12, 2016 02:27 PM EDT
According to NASA's new climate model of ancient Venus, the planet could have very easily hosted life once upon a time.
Before a super-strong electric wind scraped the planet clean, sending most of its atmosphere into space as recently as 715 million years ago, Venus was likely much cooler and covered with oceans of water -- prime real estate for living things.
"Many of the same tools we use to model climate change on Earth can be adapted to study climates on other planets, both past and present," said Michael Way, a Goddard researcher and the lead author of the new study, in a press release. "These results show ancient Venus may have been a very different place than it is today."
Due to its proximity Venus would still be baked in unearthly amounts of sunlight. But were there to be a shallow ocean on Venus at the time, the sun would have churned some of the liquid sea into a thick cloud layer. The net effect would have been like the flap of foil across a car windshield.
Those ancient Venusian clouds would act "like an umbrella to shield the surface from much of the solar heating," said GISS's Anthony Del Genio in the press release. "The result is mean climate temperatures that are actually a few degrees cooler than Earth's today."
A computer rendition showing the model land-ocean pattern of Venus. (NASA Handout)
NASA model suggests Venus could have hosted life millions of years ago | World |
Postmedia Network and The Washington Post
First posted: Friday, August 12, 2016 02:23 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, August 12, 2016 02:27 PM EDT
According to NASA's new climate model of ancient Venus, the planet could have very easily hosted life once upon a time.
Before a super-strong electric wind scraped the planet clean, sending most of its atmosphere into space as recently as 715 million years ago, Venus was likely much cooler and covered with oceans of water -- prime real estate for living things.
"Many of the same tools we use to model climate change on Earth can be adapted to study climates on other planets, both past and present," said Michael Way, a Goddard researcher and the lead author of the new study, in a press release. "These results show ancient Venus may have been a very different place than it is today."
Due to its proximity Venus would still be baked in unearthly amounts of sunlight. But were there to be a shallow ocean on Venus at the time, the sun would have churned some of the liquid sea into a thick cloud layer. The net effect would have been like the flap of foil across a car windshield.
Those ancient Venusian clouds would act "like an umbrella to shield the surface from much of the solar heating," said GISS's Anthony Del Genio in the press release. "The result is mean climate temperatures that are actually a few degrees cooler than Earth's today."
A computer rendition showing the model land-ocean pattern of Venus. (NASA Handout)
NASA model suggests Venus could have hosted life millions of years ago | World |