Massive Gravity Wave Spotted On Venus By Japanese Spacecraft
A giant gravity wave was spotted on the atmosphere of Venus by a Japanese spacecraft "Akatsuki," this has been the largest ever recorded as the wave was captured stretching over 6200 miles across the planet.
This has not been the first time Venus was found with a gravity wave, the second planet in our Solar System is covered in a thick atmosphere consisting of sulphuric acid clouds that moves west even faster than the rotation of the planet.
It is believed that the giant wave was caused by the gravity of the mountains present on the surface of Venus, as scientists think these towering mountains are the key reason to creating these bows. This has also been the first of its kind to be observed on Venus as stated on Mail Online.
The wave was captured by JAXA's Akatsuki spacecraft as it appeared like a bright spot in the images, the European Space Agency have stated that these waves are found in Earth's atmosphere as well.
According to The Verge, the gravity wave might possibly mean that the atmospheric conditions closer to the planet's surface are more variable than predicted. Back in 2015, Akatsuki spotted this particular gravity wave but lost sight due to a change in the spacecraft's orbit. Later on when it returned to its place after almost three weeks the wave had vanished.
Researchers from the Rikkyo University in Tokyo have been studying the bow shaped patch that appeared in 2015. It is a pair of high and low temperature regions with amplitude about 5 km. the surprising fact is that it remained at the same position despite the geographical atmospheric super rotation.
The westward wind touches a maximum speed of 100 meters per second at the cloud top altitudes. Scientists are onto further research and they might produce new studies about the recent finding.
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