Venus

In 2016, the Japanese Akatsuki mission detected a massive disturbance on Venus which left scientists baffled. For a long time, its origin has been a mystery. However, now a team of researchers from the University of Tokyo has found the answer. An answer that, curiously, has a lot to do with your kitchen sink. Simulations. Through atmospheric simulations and fluid dynamics models, scientists at the University of Tokyo have discovered that a phenomenon takes place in the atmosphere of Venus, called hydraulic jump, which also happens in your sink every time you turn on the tap. You have surely noticed that, right at the point where the water hits the sink, it moves quickly and in a very thin layer. However, a circle is formed whose outer layers are thicker and move much more slowly. In other words, rapidly flowing liquid abruptly slows down and increases in height. The reasons. Initially, when water falls into the sink, its speed is greater than the local speed of the waves that are generated. However, friction with the sink surface slows down the waterso just the opposite happens. As a result, water begins to accumulate, forming a deeper layer that also moves more unstablely. What was seen on Venus. In 2016, a massive disturbance was detected moving 6,000 kilometers wide around the equator of Venus. This, in addition, was moving through the clouds, leaving behind a dark patch of denser clouds. These images taken on August 18 (left) and August 27 (right), 2016, by the near-infrared camera of Japan’s Akatsuki Venus probe, show the clear line of denser (darker) clouds moving across the planet. Special clouds. The clouds of Venuscomposed mostly of sulfuric acid, are an interesting mystery. They are known to rotate very quickly, with a speed 60 times greater than the planet’s own rotation. This, as explained in Universe Todaywould be more or less equivalent to a Formula 1 car circling a bicycle. They are made up of 3 layers, of which only the outermost one is well known. The two innermost ones harbor many mysteries, which is why these scientists have searched there. An unstable wave. In one of these internal layers, something known as a Kelvin wave is formed. It moves east very quickly, but there comes a time when it becomes periodically unstable. At that point, the wind speed slows down, like tap water, and the atmosphere builds up into a thicker layer, like water over a sink. This drastic change causes a powerful upward current of air, which pushes sulfuric acid vapor into the atmosphere, where it condenses and forms that broad wall of clouds that was detected in 2016. other planets. This is the largest hydraulic jump that has been detected in the solar system. However, these scientists believe that, using similar models, perhaps something similar could be detected on other planets. For example, they believe that Mars is a good candidate to host this phenomenon. It would be interesting to check, since Venus is too inhospitable a planet to colonize, but science Yes, he has his sights set on colonizing Mars in the future. Knowing perfectly the mysteries that its sky houses is necessary for the success of this type of missions. Image | MIT/Zeimusu | T. Imamura, Y. Maejima, K. Sugiyama et al., 2026 In Xataka | A green beam illuminated Venus in the night sky. It is not an unknown phenomenon, but it is very difficult to see