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Contents
Source: The post is based on the article”Billions of Years Ago, Venus May Have Had a Key Earthlike Feature“published in “The New York Times” on october 26,2023.
Why in News?
A study published Thursday in the journal The Nature Astronomy suggests that Venus in its youth may have possessed a key Earth-like trait: plate tectonics, the continual reshaping of pieces of the planet’s outer crust.
What is the comparison between Earth and Venus ?
| Parameter | Venus | Earth |
| Orbital Distance (km) | 108 200 000 | 149 600 000 |
| Diameter (km) | 12,103.6 | 12,756.3 |
| Mass (kg) | 4.869 x 1024 | 5.972 x 1024 |
| Density (kgm-3) | 5.24 | 5.52 |
| 1 Day | 243 Earth days | 23h 56m |
| 1 Year | 224.7 Earth days | 365.25 days |
| Atmosphere | 96% CO2 3% N | 77% N 21% O |
| Escape Velocity (kms-1) | 10.36 | 11.18 |
| Surface Gravity (ms-2) | 8.87 | 9.81 |
What models were adopted in the study?
(1) Tectonic models types- Scientists set up computer simulations exploring two types of tectonic models.
(A) The stagnant lid Model- It describes worlds like Mars and the Earth’s moon where the outer crust consists of a solid shell are unmoving.
(B) The plate tectonics Model- It models on the earth’s plate tectonics activities. On Earth, about 80 percent of volcanism occurs along mid-oceanic ridges where two tectonic plates are spreading apart and magma upwells.
What are the key findings of the study ?
(1) Less Nitrogen in Venus than what is estimated today- The simulations indicated that in Venus, there would be less nitrogen than what is observed today (current estimation of Nitrogen is 3.5%).
(2) Simultaneous plate tectonic activities in both earth and Venus- Very likely, both the planets had plate tectonics operating roughly at the same period of time.
What are upcoming missions to study about Venus?
(1)NASA’s Davinci spacecraft (Launch in 2029)-To make precise measurements of the gases in the atmosphere, providing clues to present-day volcanism.
(2) NASA mission (Veritas)– To make detailed measurements of the planet’s gravity and take high-resolution images of the surface.
(3)The European Space Agency mission(EnVision)– To help scientists understand why conditions on Earth and Venus diverged so much.
Upsc syllabus- Science&Technology(Space Science)
