Venus’s curious winds
MAY 07, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024314
Science : Venus, Earth’s twin by size and composition, is a hostile planet full of heat, a carbon dioxideladen atmosphere, and thick sulfuric clouds.Most puzzlingly, venusian winds move at up to 60 times the speed of the planet’s rotation; Earth’s fastest winds clock in at just 10% to 20% of the rotation speed.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is out to solve this problem with its Akatsuki mission , slated for launch on 18 May. Akatsuki will train four cameras at ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths on the planet to track clouds at different altitudes. The craft also has a high-speed camera that aims to capture venusian lightning, presumed to occur but never directly observed.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
