Venus South Polar Vortex
Explanation:
What's happening over the South Pole of Venus?
To find out, scientists have been studying images taken by the
robotic Venus Express spacecraft when it passes over the
lower spin axis of Earth's overheated twin.
Surprisingly, recent images from
Venus Express
do not confirm
previous sightings of a double storm system
there, but rather found a single unusual swirling cloud vortex.
In the
above recently released image sequence taken in infrared light and digitally
compressed, darker areas correspond to higher temperatures and hence lower regions
of Venus' atmosphere.
Also illuminating are
recently released
movies, which show similarities between
Venus' southern vortex
and the vortex that swirls over the
South Pole of Saturn.
Understanding the
peculiar dynamics of why, at times, two eddies appear, while at other times
a single peculiar eddy appears, may give insight into how
hurricanes evolve on Earth, and remain a topic of research
for some time.
In three months, the European
Venus Express spacecraft
will be joined around Venus by the Japanese
Akatsuki satellite.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
