Experts Puzzled By Bright Spot On Venus

Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that astronomers are puzzled by a strange bright spot which has appeared in the clouds of Venus, first identified by US amateur astronomer Frank Melillo on 19 July and later confirmed by the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. 'I have seen bright spots before but this one is an exceptionally bright and quite intense area,' says Melillo. The bright spot has started to expand since its first appearance, being spread by winds in Venus' thick atmosphere. Scientists are unsure as to what is causing the spot. 'An eruption would have to be quite energetic to get a cloud this high,' said Dr. Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin. Furthermore, at a latitude of 50 degrees south, the spot lies outside the region of known volcanoes on Venus. Another potential source for the bright spot are charged particles from the Sun interacting with Venus' atmosphere. It's also possible that atmospheric turbulence may have caused bright material to become concentrated in one area. 'Right now, I think it's anybody's guess,' adds Limaye."

Comments

not a one time event

[heptapod]

It's not the first bright spot observed on Venus. There was one back in January 2007 where there both hemispheres brightened at the same time.

Isn't it obvious?

[millennial]

They're coming...

Cosmic omens...

[TimHunter]

1. Mysterious bright spot on Venus
2. Scar on Jupiter http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/25/1457245/Hubble-Photographs-Jupiters-New-Scar?art_pos=2/
3. Unexplained high tides http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/1620869.html/

I don't know about you guys but I'm expecting the space aliens to show up any minute.

Re:Cosmic omens...

[Ihmhi]

The most disturbing thing of all is that if the aliens did show up, the first thing many Slashdotters would do is come back to your comment and change the moderation so it appears as "Insightful".

Re:Cosmic omens...

[cardsinhand]

Super Saiyans are just battling again. No big deal.

Re:Cosmic omens...

[physburn]

Its not an omen, it just that Venus has developed Jupiter envy.

---

Astronomy Feed @ Feed Distiiler

Global warming?

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like this is more evidence of global warming.

Random Venusian Fact

[bughunter]

Random Fact: The proper adjective form to refer to the 2nd solar planet is not Venusian but Venereal. However, the latter term doesn't get quite the desired reception from the general public.

(I learned this from a Tony Randall appearance on the tonight show in the early 1980s. I just wish my brain could retain practical facts the way it retains trivia like this.)

Re:Random Venusian Fact

[mrsurb]

I'd much prefer to be called mercurial, martial or jovial than venereal! Or even a lunatic...

Re:Random Venusian Fact

[TheLink]

Not according to these:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/venereal

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venereal

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/venereal

If it is, it must be a very obscure reference. I doubt you'd be able to use it and convey the meaning you claimed.

Re:Random Venusian Fact

[N7DR]

Random Fact: The proper adjective form to refer to the 2nd solar planet is not Venusian but Venereal.

Nope. It's "cytherean". Of course, you could believe Tony Randall over someone who has worked on PVO (Pioneer Venus Orbiter) data. I admit that it's probably more fun that way.

Re:Random Venusian Fact

[PingXao]

Sexist? Amazing how a couple of generations of brainwashing can undo centuries of progress and accomplishment.

Re:Random Venusian Fact

[hawk]

Both of those terms are odd choices for a reference to Perelandra . . .

hawk

Alien DARPA

[tsa]

Looks like a test of the Venetian DARPA to me. We can expect our Venetian Overlords to arrive soon!

Re:Alien DARPA

[Thing 1]

I for one welcome our blind overlords.

Just like Jupiter

[mknewman]

Looks like another possible comet hit to me. Introduce new volatles into the atmosphere and you'll get something similar.

There is spacecraft in orbit around Venus.

[Anonymous Coward]

ESA Venus Express is in orbit around Venus. Perhaps they can shed more light on this.

Re:There is spacecraft in orbit around Venus.

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Shed more light on an already bright spot? Wouldn't that burn out the cams?

Asteroids, metoers?

[theolein]

The dark spot on Jupiter is almost certainly a comet, asteroid or meteor. While I doubt that the higher tides on the US coast have anything to do with it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the bright spot on Venus wasn't also due to an asteroidal collision. Venus has a very thick atmosphere and a large collision would probably leave a mark in the atmosphere due to kicked up dust etc that would be observable for a while until it dissipated in the atmosphere.

More importantly, the odds of two planets in the system getting hit by objects large enough to make large marks is pretty small, and that makes me worry if there isn't some local debris cloud from the Oort cloud or Kuiper belt that is passing through the system currently. Does anyone know?

Re:Asteroids, metoers?

[Sperbels]

and that makes me worry if there isn't some local debris cloud from the Oort cloud or Kuiper belt that is passing through the system currently. Does anyone know?

No, but such an event would be huge news and I'm sure we'd know about it by now. The people who insist that extinction events occur regularly due to some astronomical cycle would be screaming their heads off insisting that Sol's companion star has returned to pelt the earth with comets.

It's igniting

[koan]

We get a second sun.

Re:It's igniting

[bar-agent]

We get a second sun.

Yay!

Oh, wait. That's bad, isn't it?