Venus’ electric wind. Credit: NASA/Conceptual Image Lab.
Venus has an ‘electric wind’ strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere, which may have played a significant role in stripping the planet of its oceans. Glyn Collinson, Goddard Space Flight Center said: “We never dreamt an electric wind could be so powerful that it can suck oxygen right out of an atmosphere into space. This is something that definitely has to be on the checklist when we go looking for habitable planets around other stars.” The study found Venus’ electric field is so strong that it can accelerate the heavy electrically charged component of water – oxygen – to speeds fast enough to escape the planet’s gravity.
When water molecules rise into the upper atmosphere, sunlight breaks the water ...
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