Venus Express' swansong experiment sheds light on Venus' polar atmosphere

sci.esa.int ^ | 4/19/2016 | unknown

[rktman]

Some of the final results sent back by ESA's Venus Express before it plummeted down through the planet's atmosphere have revealed it to be rippling with atmospheric waves – and, at an average temperature of -157°C, colder than anywhere on Earth.

[rktman]

Light bulb comes on........ How about NASA and the muzzie scientist that have done so much in the name of progress start working on a plan to send all the excess See Uh Oh Two we have here on erf to Venus? Yeah, that'll save the erf. As far as plant life goes, to bad your food source is being exported.

[PAR35]

at an average temperature of -157°C

Wait, the story from the scientists used to be that Venus was too hot for humans, with a temperature of about 850F (over 450C), hot enough to melt lead - which made sense, since it was closer to the sun and had a greenhouse gas cloud cover. Now, they are saying that it is well below freezing.

[PIF]

Don’t get all huffy - someone has to export excess humans before they over-run the planet - many consider them tasty ...

[CatOwner]

Wait, the story from the scientists used to be that Venus was too hot for humans, with a temperature of about 850F (over 450C), hot enough to melt lead - which made sense, since it was closer to the sun and had a greenhouse gas cloud cover. Now, they are saying that it is well below freezing.

Sounds like Earth's global warming has inversely impacted the weather on Venus. /s

[John O]

So we’ve now dropped a multi-ton kinetic energy weapon on Venus.

The Venusians are going to be awfully pissed at us!

[null and void]

Just because there's snow on the roof, it doesn't mean there's no fire in the hearth."

[IronJack]

Yeah, that’s what I’ve always been taught, that Venus is hotter than the hinges of hell because of all the greenhouse gases and trapped IR radiation and all that hooey.

[JimRed]

Some of the final results sent back by ESA's Venus Express before it plummeted down through the planet's atmosphere...

BEFORE it went through the atmosphere, it was in the cold of space. Wiki entry on surface temperature of Venus:

The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of Earth's. With a mean surface temperature of 735 K (462 °C; 863 °F), Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar System.

[NorthMountain]

Earth is 100F at the equator and -40F at the poles.

[NorthMountain]

Here's a temperature profile of the atmosphere above your head:

[outofsalt]

Venus’ atmospheric predictions were markedly off from predicted levels but Earth’s climactic predictions are settled science.

[C210N]

Interesting chart.

What does “temperature” really mean at 100,000 km, or a quarter way to the Moon?

When there is for most intents and purposes no air, what does it mean to take temp at 100,000 km versus, say, 110,000 km?

[rktman]

Well, the poles are at least. Can’t say about the equator. :>)

[rktman]

Venusian SUVs? Who knew?

[katana]

The charts seem to show that the temperature readings were taken at a minimum altitude of 130 km (87 miles or 460,000 feet) above the polar surface. That has nothing to do with what the temperature and pressure would be at the surface. Suffice it to say anything the Russians were able to land there survived for mere minutes sending photos back before succumbing to the heat and pressure. Venus is the closest comparison with Earth in size, mass, and gravity but isn't anyplace for the likes of Zsa Zsa Gabor.

[pabianice]

The Marching Morons

[IronJack]

Everyone knows that men are from Mars; Zsa Zsa is from Venus.

Did the Russians get any pictures of her before their craft imploded?

[NorthMountain]

What does “temperature” really mean at 100,000 km, or a quarter way to the Moon?

"Temperature" is a far more slippery concept than most folks realize ...

In this case, it means that although there are very few molecules they are moving extremely fast (high energy per molecule). This equates to a very high temperature. That said, the total energy, or heat, in the atmosphere at that altitude is nearly nil due to the small number of particles.

At that altitude, a macroscopic object's (you, for example, in a space suit) thermal interaction with the universe is almost exclusively radiative heat transfer. You'll bake on the up-sun side and freeze on the down-sun side.

[katana]

She was actually from Hungary. Ray Walston was from Mars.

[DannyTN]