Okay, I guess I’m not understanding enough about how scientists, particularly astronomers, think — because I just read a couple of stories where they announced that Earth and Venus are so similar that they could sort of be thought of as twins.
That’s really quite a stretch for me to figure out. Even with all the talk of global warming, Earth’s normal surface temperatures don’t come close to those on Venus. On Venus, “surface temperatures exceed 800 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt tin and lead,” according to an article I was just reading. The atmosphere on Venus is almost pure carbon dioxide and is about 100 times as dense as on Earth.
As far as I can tell from reading the story (I’m no rocket scientist — but, coincidentally, my son is!), Earth and Venus are similar in size and Venus shows signs of once possibly having Earth-like oceans. Venus also apparently has lightning flashes going on, as well as unexpected temperature swings between the “day” and “night” sides of as much as 70 degrees F.
All pretty interesting stuff. The story I’ve linked to relates to recent papers and meetings by scientists studying data from Venus Express, a satellite we sent to orbit the planet and which has been sending back data now for over a year.
Whether the two planets share a common past and are anything like “twins,” the scary task scientists face is trying to decide whether, how, or when Venus reflects Earth’s future. God help us all if some of the things we’re doing today will lead our descendants of the far distant future to an Earth like present-day Venus!
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: Earth, Venus, planetary science, astronomy, Venus Express, just a guy who reads the papers