Venus Express detects recent volcanic activity on planet’s surface

BBC : Four transient bright spots on the surface of Venus indicate that the planet has active volcanoes. The hot spots were detected by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft, launched in 2005. Although other data, such as dark, lava-like rock near the south pole and spikes of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere, had already suggested volcanic activity, IR measurements of the planet’s surface confirm that some areas vary in temperature from one day to the next. Such temperature fluctuations strongly suggest the existence of a lava pool, superheated rocks, or gas plumes rising from below the surface, says the Venus Express science operations coordinator, Colin Wilson of Oxford University. Direct observations cannot be made, however, because the planet’s thick, swirling atmosphere obscures the view. And now no new data can be gathered as the spacecraft ran out of fuel in November 2014, which effectively ended its mission.