Distinct Mineralogy and Age of Individual Lava Flows in Atla Regio, Venus Derived From Magellan Radar Emissivity

Surface changes observed on a Venusian volcano during the Magellan mission

Venus has a geologically young surface, but it is unknown whether it has ongoing active volcanism. From 1990 to 1992, the Magellan spacecraft imaged the planet's surface, using synthetic aperture radar. We examined volcanic areas on Venus that were imaged two or three times by Magellan and identified an ~2.2-square-kilometer volcanic vent that changed shape in the 8-month interval between two radar images. Additional volcanic flows downhill from the vent are visible in the second-epoch images, although we cannot rule out that they were present but invisible in the first epoch because of differences in imaging geometry. We interpret these results as evidence of ongoing volcanic activity on Venus.

Synergies Between Venus & Exoplanetary Observations: Venus and Its Extrasolar Siblings

Here we examine how our knowledge of present day Venus can inform terrestrial exoplanetary science and how exoplanetary science can inform our study of Venus. In a superficial way the contrasts in knowledge appear stark. We have been looking at Venus for millennia and studying it via telescopic observations for centuries. Spacecraft observations began with Mariner 2 in 1962 when we confirmed that Venus was a hothouse planet, rather than the tropical paradise science fiction pictured. As long as our level of exploration and understanding of Venus remains far below that of Mars, major questions will endure. On the other hand, exoplanetary science has grown leaps and bounds since the discovery of Pegasus 51b in 1995, not too long after the golden years of Venus spacecraft missions came to an end with the Magellan Mission in 1994. Multi-million to billion dollar/euro exoplanet focused spacecraft missions such as JWST, and its successors will be flown in the coming decades. At the same time, excitement about Venus exploration is blooming again with a number of confirmed and proposed missions in the coming decades from India, Russia, Japan, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Here we review what is known and what we may discover tomorrow in complementary studies of Venus and its exoplanetary cousins.