Is it possible to live on Venus. Terraforming Venus. Current conditions on Venus. Is there life on Venus. Characteristics of the planet Venus

Life came to earth from morning star

AT last years The attention of inquisitive and intelligent people around the world is riveted to Mars due to the fact that the Curiosity rover crawls on its surface and transmits unique information from there, fantastically interesting images of the surface and a lot of useful and important things. Against this background, interest in other planets of the solar system, for example, Venus, has somehow weakened. And, meanwhile, according to some researchers, it is our ancestral home. About two billion years later, there was water on the Morning Star: rivers, oceans, lakes, even swamps and puddles. This conjecture of scientists about water was confirmed by information from the Venus Express probe.

Planet Venus b yla inhabited

This means that life could well exist on Venus, which then migrated to .

Some researchers are inclined to think that life on the planet has survived to this day in the form of extremophile microorganisms (which feel confident in an extremely dangerous and aggressive environment), or thrives in the thick clouds of Venus, where conditions are quite suitable for protozoa.

It is interesting

The non-crater landforms of Venus are named in honor of mythical, fabulous and legendary women: hills are given the names of goddesses of different peoples, relief depressions are named after other characters from various mythologies

And not only

Even more bold assumptions were made by Russian scientists, stating that life on Venus thrives not only in the form.

In the pictures taken from the probe, they saw much larger organisms.

Although opponents disagree, answering that the photographs show nothing definite, only what the researchers would like to see.

In fact, it's hard to believe even on a planet named after the goddess of love.

It is interesting

The Maya called Venus - the planet Noh Ek - the "Great Star", or Shush Ek - the "Star of the Wasp" and believed that Venus personifies the god Kukulkan

Gravity on the planet Venus

There is no place for love on the surface today.

There, rather, hell, as it was imagined by believers in the Middle Ages.

All conditions have been created for the yellowish-white planet: an acid shower, a steam room (on the surface, the temperature goes off scale for five hundred degrees).

Characteristics of the planet Venus

Weight: 4.87 * 1024 kg (0.815 Earth)
Diameter at equator: 12102 km
Axis Tilt: 177.36°
Density: 5.24 g/cm3
Average surface temperature: +465 °С
Period of revolution around the axis (day): 244 days (retrograde)
Distance from (average): 0.72 a. e. or 108 million km
Orbital period around the Sun (year): 225 days
Orbital speed: 35 km/s
Orbital eccentricity: e = 0.0068
Orbital inclination to the ecliptic: i = 3.86°
Free fall acceleration: 8.87m/s2
Atmosphere: carbon dioxide (96%), nitrogen (3.4%)
Satellites: no

It is interesting

In the Soviet film Planet of Storms, Venus is depicted as a world seething with life. The fauna of Venus resembles the terrestrial fauna in the Mesozoic era

What is the planet Venus made of?

Internal structure

The structure of the second planet from the Sun is similar to the structure of other planets: crust, mantle, core.
The liquid core of Venus contains a lot of iron, and its radius is 3,200 km.
The crust is 20 km thick, and the mantle is a molten substance.
It is strange that with such a nucleus, there is practically no magnetic field.
The upper atmosphere is almost 100% hydrogen.
There are a lot on the planet, today more than one and a half thousand of them have been recorded. Most of them are active.
Volcanic activity indicates the activity of the bowels of Venus, which are walled up under thick layers of a shell of basalt.

Features of the planet Venus

Rotation around own axis

The nature of this eccentric planet is not easy. It is also expressed in her willfulness.

The solar system rotates around its axis from west to east. Uranus and Venus are an exception to this rule.

They rotate in the opposite direction: from east to west. Rotation of this kind is called retrograde.

The planet makes a complete revolution around its axis in 243 days.

It is interesting

In many novels by R. Heinlein, Venus is depicted as a gloomy swampy world, reminiscent of the Amazon valley during the rainy season. The planet is inhabited by intelligent inhabitants resembling dragons or seals.

Venus is the brightest of the planets

Planet Venus in the starry sky

Finding Venus in the sky is very easy.

In terms of brightness, this is the third heavenly body after the sun and moon. In the form of a small white dot in the sky, it can sometimes be seen during the day.

Many have observed how at dusk the first star lights up in the still bright sky - this is Venus. As the dawn fades, Venus flares up brighter.

And when it wraps the Earth in a dense fabric and a whole host of stars appears in the sky, our star stands out among them. True, it does not shine for long, it comes in an hour or two.

The second star from the Sun is easy to see with ordinary field glasses, and people with good eyesight can see the crescent of Venus with the naked eye.

This happens because sometimes it approaches the Earth at a very close distance. In addition, the morning star is relatively large, slightly smaller than the Earth.

The light of Venus is so bright that when the sun and moon are not in the sky, it causes objects to cast shadows.

It is interesting

The planet Venus is very fond of rock musicians. One of the Wings (Paul McCartney) albums is called Venus and Mars. The Rammstein song "Morgenstern" is dedicated to this planet. One of Boney M.'s albums is called "Night Flight to Venus", Lady Gaga's first promotional single is called "Venus"

VIDEO: Planet Venus. Amazing Facts

Venus is closer to Earth than any other planet in the solar system.
Scientists call the morning star the sister of our Earth.
Earth and Venus are similar in size.
The geophysical position of the two planets is different.
The internal structure of the planet is not fully known.
To date, it is not possible to conduct seismic sounding of the depths of the planet.
Scientists explore the surface of Venus and the space around it using radio signals.
Venus is much younger than Earth, about 500 million years old.
planet was established by scientists using nuclear methods.
It was possible to obtain samples of the Venusian soil.
Scientific studies of these samples were carried out in terrestrial laboratories.
No terrestrial analogues were found in the samples, despite the similarity of the two planets.
Both the Earth and Venus are each individual in their geological composition.
The Venusian diameter is 12,100 km. For comparison, the diameter of the Earth is 12,742 km.
The close values of the diameters of the two planets are due to gravitational laws.
The average density of rocks present on the planet is less than the average density of rocks on Earth.
The planetary mass of Venus is 80% of the mass of the Earth.
A small weight relative to the Earth also reduces the force of gravity.
If you have a desire to fly to Venus, then it is not necessary to lose weight before traveling.
You will weigh less on the neighboring planet.
The planets of the solar system rotate around their axis from west to east. Uranus and Venus are an exception to this rule. They rotate in the opposite direction: from east to west.
Venusian day is the blue dream of workaholics who are always upset that there are only 24 hours in a day.
And the day lasts longer than a year. True. A day on the planet lasts longer than its own year.
those who sing of Venus count a day for a year.
The lyrics are close to the truth. The revolution of the planet around its own axis takes 243 Earth days.
Venus travels around the Sun in 225 Earth days.
The dazzling light of Venus comes from solar radiation when reflected from the surface of the planet.
Venus is the brightest star in the night sky.
At a close distance from the Earth, the planet looks like a thin crescent.
At the moments when Venus moves away to the maximum distance from our planet, its light dims and becomes not so bright.
Away from the Earth, Venus no longer looks like a crescent, but takes on a round shape.
higher space forces established a strict order: each planet must have its retinue. However, Mercury and Venus are not so honored.
Venus has no moons.
Dense vortex clouds cover Venus in a thick layer.
Because of these clouds, huge craters and mountain ranges on the surface of Venus are not visible.
The clouds of the romantic planet are made up of poisonous sulfuric acid.
The romantic rains that fall on Venus are of the same substance. An umbrella won't help.
At chemical reactions acids form in the clouds of Venus.
Dissolved in the planet's atmosphere are the most various substances: lead, zinc and even diamonds.
Therefore, when going there on an excursion, leave the jewelry at home.
Otherwise, the insidious planet will dissolve them in its acids.
Clouds need four Earth days to fly around the planet Venus.
The atmosphere of Venus consists of almost one carbon dioxide.
Its content reaches 96 percent.
This is what causes the greenhouse effect on the planet.
Three plateaus are known, located on the surface of the planet.
The researchers found them using radar.
The most mysterious, mysterious and unusual plateau is the “Land of Ishtar”.
By earthly standards, the "Land of Ishtar" plateau is simply huge.
It is larger than the territory of the USA.
The basis of the foundations on the planet is volcanic lava.
Almost all geological objects of Venus consist of it.
Due to super high temperatures, lava cools very slowly.
It cools down over millions of Earth geological years.
On Venus great amount volcanoes.
Exactly volcanic processes are an important component in the formation of the landscape of Venus.
What is impossible on Earth, on Venus is in the order of things.
For example, the length of a lava river is thousands of kilometers.
Scientists observe these fiery streams with the help of radars.
People are used to thinking that deserts are the realm of sand. Just not on Venus.
The deserts of Venus are mostly rocks.
For many years, scientists believed that Venus had high humidity.
It was assumed the presence of huge areas of employment.
That is why they expected to find life there, because swamps are the most suitable place for its origin and prosperity.
Reality is disappointing. After studying the data, only lifeless plateaus were found on the planet.
If you are going to Venus on a business trip, do not forget that water is more valuable there than gold.
On the surface itself, only rocky, dehydrated deserts can be found.
The climate on Venus is not for romantics and not even for extreme people.
At a temperature of plus five hundred degrees Celsius, you don’t really get a tan.
Scientists believe that there was water here in ancient times.
Today, due to the high temperature, of course, there is no water left.
Geologists believe that the water on Venus disappeared 300 million years ago.
Water evaporated due to increased solar activity.
Such ultra-high temperatures do not allow us to hope that life will be discovered on Venus. In any case, in the form in which we are accustomed to perceive it.
85 kilograms per square centimeter - this is the pressure on the surface of the planet.
The atmosphere on the planet is as thick and dense as water on Earth.
Walking on the surface of Venus will be like walking on the bottom of a river.
on the planet pose a serious danger to humans.
Even a light breeze on Venus is like a storm on Earth.
This breeze will carry you away as easily as a feather and throw you on lifeless rocks.
The Soviet spacecraft Venera-8 was the first to land on Venus.
In 1990, the American Magellan spacecraft was sent to explore Venus.
Based on the results of the work of Magellan, a topographic map surface of the planet Venus.
What was the first planet that the first astronauts saw through a window? First - the Earth, then - Venus.
There is no magnetic field on Venus.
Seismologists put it this way: "You can't call Venus."
The Venusian core is liquid.
It is smaller than the earth.
Scientists drew attention to the ideal forms of Venus.
Our planet is flattened at the poles, and the shape of the morning star is a perfect sphere.
Being on the surface of Venus, due to the dense cloudy curtain, it is impossible to see either the Earth or even the Sun.
The low rotation speed of Venus leads to its heating.
There are no seasons on Venus.
The information component of the physical fields of Venus has not been detected.
In terms of brightness, Venus is the third celestial body after the Sun and Moon.
The light of Venus is so bright that when there is no Sun in the sky and it causes objects to cast shadows.
There is a theory that life came to Earth from Venus.
Some scientists suggest that life on Venus survived in the form of extremophile microorganisms.
Free fall acceleration on Venus: 8.87m/s2.
The distance from Venus to the Sun is 108 million km.

The more we learn about Venus, the more new problems arise. Here is one of them: how to explain such a significant difference in chemical composition atmospheres of neighboring planets - Earth and Venus?

Millions of years ago, the atmosphere of our planet was also abundantly saturated with carbon dioxide released from the earth's interior during volcanic eruptions. But with the advent of plants on Earth, carbon dioxide was more and more bound, as it went to the formation of plant mass. The high content of free carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus, apparently, indicates that there has never been organic life similar to the earth. Consequently, the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a neighboring planet is a completely natural phenomenon. And the fact that a very high temperature reigns on Venus is also not an accident.

The excessively high temperature on the planet is explained by the so-called greenhouse effect. The physical essence of this phenomenon is that the surface of Venus, heated by the sun's rays, gives off energy in the infrared (thermal) range. But the dense carbonic Venusian atmosphere, and even with a small admixture of water vapor, is almost completely opaque to infrared rays. As a result, excess heat accumulates - a greenhouse effect is created, as a result of which the surface of the planet and the atmosphere adjacent to it are heated.

The high temperature also caused other features unusual world Venus. As you know, at a temperature of 374 ° C, the so-called critical state sets in for water, when it is already, regardless of the value atmospheric pressure goes completely into steam. Consequently, open reservoirs on Venus could be located only at high latitudes (not lower than 60 parallels), where the temperature does not reach a critical value. Therefore, it could be assumed that the polar "caps" of Venus, unlike the terrestrial and Martian ones, are ... hot seas! From the rest of the very hot Venusian surface, the water must have evaporated without fail.

It is now precisely established that there are no water basins on Venus. And there is too little water vapor in the atmosphere of the planet. The question is, where did the water go? What is the reason for such a strong dehydration of the Venusian atmosphere?

Academician Alexander Pavlovich Vinogradov explained the disappearance of water from the atmosphere of Venus by an enhanced (due to the proximity of the planet to the Sun) photochemical process. As a result, the evaporated water was decomposed into its constituent elements: oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen oxidized rocks, and light hydrogen atoms escaped from the atmosphere into interplanetary space. Moreover, the dissipation of hydrogen on Venus is favored by a somewhat lower force of gravity and high temperature than on Earth. All this was bound to lead the planet to "shrinkage".

And yet, the decomposition of water vapor under the influence of solar ultraviolet could not lead to such a strong drying of the Venusian atmosphere. Say what you like, but the question of the disappearance of water on Venus remains a big mystery to us.
Venus's lack of a noticeable own magnetic field fully consistent with its very slow rotation. Even if the core of Venus is similar to the Earth's core, the planet's rotation speed is too low for internal currents to arise in its core that can generate a magnetic field.

The structure of the bowels of Venus, apparently, is similar to the structure of the Earth. But the power heat flow, coming from the depths of Venus, corresponds approximately to the values that are noted on Earth in volcanic regions.

Comparison of Venus with the Earth would be incomplete if we did not touch upon the question of the possibility of life on this planet next to us. The biggest obstacle to life on Venus is the extremely high temperature. Yes, and atmospheric pressure can not be discounted. It is easy to say that living beings on the Venusian surface must constantly experience 90 atmospheres! Not every deep-sea bathyscaphe is in such difficult conditions, like everything that can be at the bottom of the air ocean of Venus, consisting of compressed carbon dioxide. English scientist Bernard Lovell characterizes natural conditions planets: "A hot, poisonous and inhospitable environment awaits aliens on Venus."

And yet we have no right to completely exclude the possibility of life on this planet. It is known that with the distance from the surface of Venus, atmospheric pressure drops and the temperature decreases, decreasing by about 8 ° C with each kilometer of altitude. So, on the main peak of the Maxwell Mountains, the temperature should be almost 100 ° C lower than at the foot. However, even here it continues to remain high and is about 300 °C.

Until recently, it was believed that at such a temperature, life, even the simplest, becomes completely impossible. But let's not rush to such a categorical conclusion. Let's remember at least what is at the bottom Pacific Ocean hot springs with a temperature of 300 ° C were discovered in the area of the Galapagos Islands. And what is surprising: living microorganisms were found in these sources. Why not admit that life in its most primitive form can exist even on Venus? Of course, not on the hot surface of the planet, but in those layers of the Venusian atmosphere where the physical conditions are close to those on Earth, that is, where the temperature is +20 "C at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. On Venus, such conditions have developed somewhere at an altitude of about 50 km above the surface of the planet, but here's how to get rid of excess carbon dioxide and enrich the Venusian atmosphere with oxygen?How to eliminate the greenhouse effect?

The American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) believed that a radical restructuring of the atmosphere of Venus and ridding the planet of the greenhouse effect is a very real thing. For this, only one thing is required: to establish photosynthesis. And in the atmosphere of Venus there is everything necessary for the production of photosynthesis on the largest scale: carbon dioxide, water vapor, sunlight. Therefore, in the upper, relatively cool layers of the Venusian atmosphere, the scientist proposed to throw a rapidly proliferating alga - chlorella with the help of spacecraft. It will clean the atmosphere of excess carbon dioxide and replenish it with oxygen. Without carbon dioxide, the atmosphere would no longer be a trap for solar energy. When the greenhouse effect weakens, the temperature will decline, water vapor will condense into water, which will spill abundantly on the cooling surface of the planet. This will further reduce the greenhouse effect, and then conditions favorable for the development of flora and fauna will appear on Venus. Over time, the climate of an inhospitable planet will change so much that it may become suitable for human habitation.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have considered many different options. For example, Mars has geological features that suggest it once had liquid water, one of the basic conditions for life.

Scientists are also studying Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus, and Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto as possible havens for life in the oceans under the ice sheet.

Now scientists have returned to old idea, which promises a new perspective in the search for life beyond Earth: life on Venus, and more specifically in the clouds of Venus.

In a paper published March 30 in the journal Astrobiology, an international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin looks at Venus's atmosphere as a possible habitat for extraterrestrial microbial life.

“Venus has had enough time for life to evolve on its own,” explains Limay, noting that some models suggest that Venus once had suitable climatic conditions and liquid water on the surface for 2 billion years. "That's a lot longer than on Mars."

On Earth, terrestrial microorganisms, mostly bacteria, can enter the atmosphere, where they have been found alive at altitudes up to 41 kilometers by scientists using specially equipped balloons from NASA's Ames Research Center, study co-author David Smith said.

There is also a growing catalog of microbes known to live in incredibly harsh environments on our planet, including Yellowstone hot springs, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and the toxic sludge of polluted areas and lakes around the world.

“On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very difficult conditions, can feed on carbon dioxide and produce sulfuric acid says Rakesh Mogul, professor of biological chemistry at California State Polytechnic University. He notes that the cloudy, very dense and acidic atmosphere of Venus consists mainly of carbon dioxide and water droplets containing sulfuric acid.

The idea of possible life in the clouds of Venus was first raised in 1967 by biophysicist Harold Morowitz and famed astronomer Carl Sagan. Decades later, planetary scientists David Grinspoon, Mark Bullock and their colleagues expanded on the idea.

Supporting the notion that Venus's atmosphere might be a suitable niche for life, a series of space probes on the planet launched between 1962 and 1978 showed that temperature and pressure conditions in the lower and middle parts of the Venusian atmosphere are between 40 and 60 kilometers - would not interfere with microbial life.

It is known that the surface conditions on the planet are very inhospitable - the temperature reaches 460 degrees Celsius, and the pressure is 90 atmospheres.

Sanjay Limaie, who is doing his research as a NASA scientist participating in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki mission to Venus, wanted to get back to the idea of studying the planet's atmosphere after a chance meeting at a seminar with paper co-author Grzegorz Slowik from Poland's Zielona Góra University.

Slovik told him about bacteria on Earth with light-absorbing properties similar to those unidentified particles that make up the unexplained dark spots seen in the clouds of Venus. Spectroscopic observations, especially in the ultraviolet, show that the dark spots are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid and other unknown light-absorbing particles.

These dark spots have been a mystery since they were first detected by ground-based telescopes nearly a century ago, Limaye says. They were studied in more detail during the flights of automatic probes to the planet.

“Venus shows some episodic dark, sulphurous saturated spots, with contrasts up to 30-40 percent in ultraviolet and muted in longer wavelengths. These spots persist for several days, constantly changing their shape and size,” says Limaye.

The particles that make up the dark spots are almost the same size as some bacteria on Earth, although the instruments that have studied Venus's atmosphere to date are unable to distinguish between organic and inorganic materials.

The spots could be something similar to the algal blooms that normally occur in Earth's lakes and oceans - only they must develop in Venus's atmosphere.

Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP).
Image: Northrop Grumman

When hunting for extraterrestrial life planetary atmospheres other than Earth's remain largely unexplored.

One possibility for studying Venus's clouds, Limaye says, is on the drawing board: the VAMP, or Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform, a craft that flies like an airplane but floats like a blimp and can stay aloft in the planet's cloud layer for up to a year to collect data and samples.

Such a platform could include meteorological, chemical and spectrometer sensors, Limay says. She can also carry a special type of microscope capable of identifying living microorganisms.

“To really know, we need to study the clouds in situ,” the scientists say. "Venus could be an exciting new chapter in the study of extraterrestrial life."

Scientists remain hopeful that such a chapter can be opened, as discussions are currently underway about NASA's possible involvement in Russian mission Roskosmos-Venera-D, which is scheduled for the end of the 2020s. Current plans for Venera-D may include an orbiter, landing pad and ground station built by NASA, as well as a maneuverable aerial platform.

More information: Sanjay S. Limaye et al. Venus' Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds, Astrobiology (2018). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1783

There is an obvious similarity in size between Venus and Earth. And the presence of a dense atmosphere on the second planet from the Sun, obvious to observers using even primitive telescopes, has long prompted scientists to think about whether there is life on Venus.

Temperature on Venus

It was assumed, as a rule, that it was stronger than our planet. But not enough to create a serious obstacle to the existence of life there. So stated, for example, the English astronomer Richard Proctor in 1870:

“It is clear that with such a proximity of Venus to our star, at least most of its surface is unsuitable for the existence of organisms that live on Earth. Such conditions would undoubtedly make the heat of the Sun almost unbearable in the equatorial regions of the planet. But in its temperate and subarctic regions, the climate must be well suited to our needs. And life there may well exist ... ".

In 1918 the Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius came to the following conclusion:

“There is a lot of water on Venus ... most of its surface ... is undoubtedly covered with swamps corresponding to those of the earth, in which coal deposits have formed ... The same climatic parameters that exist everywhere lead to a complete lack of adaptation to changing external conditions. Thus, life on Venus is represented only by the lower ones. Mostly, undoubtedly, belonging to the vegetable kingdom. And organisms of almost the same type are distributed all over the planet.

This description of Venus, frozen in a kind of Carboniferous period of the world, was the first of a series of intriguing hypotheses that emerged in the first half of the 20th century.

Seas and swamps

During the 1920s, scientists tried to detect water vapor in Venusian clouds. But, to everyone's surprise, he was not found. Instead of water vapor, it was found a large number of carbon dioxide. This seemed to put an end to the swamp theory. And a radically new picture emerged. It began to be considered dust, and the surface - a dry, wind-blown desert. According to another theory, the clouds of Venus were composed of formaldehyde.

In 1955, American astronomers Frank Whittle and Donald Menzel argued that the Venusian atmosphere could be rich in ice crystals. They just can't be seen in the spectrum of the atmosphere. According to their version, Venus is completely covered with a carbonated ocean. Scientists argued that any protruding patches of land would remove most of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And they would fix it in the rocks in the form of carbonates (as happened on Earth).

An intriguing hypothesis emerged of a planetary ocean populated by marine organisms. They seemed to dreamers similar to those that existed on Earth in the Cambrian era. Which ended 500 million years ago. Isaac Asimov described his vision of the water world in the 1954 novel Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus.

However, hopes to find on Venus at least a puddle consisting of liquid water, not to mention antediluvian life, quickly evaporated in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Measurements were made, first with radio telescopes on Earth and then with spacecraft. They showed that the Venusian climate is by no means favorable, but, on the contrary, extremely hostile.

The next step is to send a probe to test these ideas. One of preferred options includes a probe tied to hot air balloon. It will look like it's floating. spaceship. Such an approach would make it possible to collect samples of cloud droplets and then send them to Earth for analysis.

When studying Venus, scientists discovered such unique phenomena as superrotation and lightning. Lightning is one of the signs of life, because thanks to it, discharges are separated, and lightning is a necessary stage in the formation of new microelements. Is there life on Venus?

The most powerful hurricanes of Venus

The research apparatus "Venera-Express" also found out that the winds on the surface of Venus move at great speed (60 times faster than the speed of the planet's rotation around its axis). These hurricanes at the poles churn the atmosphere into giant cyclones. These anomalous winds have been called super rotation.

On Earth, the wind speed roughly coincides with the speed of rotation of the planet, why is everything different on Venus? It's all about the density of clouds, the thickness of which reaches 19 km, so not all of the sun's energy reaches the surface of the planet. The Sun's energy is trapped in upper layers dense clouds, and causes these clouds to move with great speed. For Venus, winds with a speed of more than 320 km / h are quite common.

Water and lightning on Venus

In 2006, electromagnetic flares were also detected in the atmosphere. These were signs of lightning. On Earth, thunderstorms are caused by water, but there is no water on Venus. It turned out that lightning is formed due to clouds of sulfuric acid from volcanic eruptions. The winds give energy to these clouds, which is how lightning appears on Venus. Lightning is an element of life, since during this process the separation of particles occurs.

It has also been discovered that the volcanoes on Venus are still active. This is an important discovery, because in solar system not many places where volcanic activity. This further confirms that Venus is still a living planet and there may even be life in one form or another.

Most of the planet Venus is covered with solidified lava, why are there so many of them? On Earth, volcanoes are located along tectonic plates, and accumulated energy comes out through these faults, thereby cooling the Earth. On Venus, there are no tectonic plates, the crust is solid. When there was not enough space in the crust, Venus seemed to boil, there was a planetary volcanic eruption, thereby destroying rocks and forming a new landscape.

Scientists also found that in some places on Venus, rocks have been preserved that could only form in water. And these rocks are much older than the volcanic rocks that now cover most of the planet's surface. So, Venus still had oceans and seas.

Is there life on Venus?

If there was water and lightning on Venus, then life once existed there, is it now? spacecraft studied the surface of the planet using ultraviolet light. It turned out that there are absorbers of ultraviolet light on the planet. If microorganisms exist in an acidic and hot environment like the Yellowstone geyser, then microorganisms were able to adapt to similar conditions on Venus!

Scientists suggest that on Venus, due to atmospheric pressure and high temperature, life is not adapted, but at a distance of 48 km. from the surface the temperature is only 80 degrees. If life originated on Venus, then when the water evaporated, the microbes evaporated along with the steam.

If terrestrial lichens survive without water with the help of water vapor, then microbes can exist in hot acidic vapor.

Studies show that microbes are able to live not only in the upper atmosphere. And it is theoretically possible for Venus to have life in hot acidic clouds.