‘Lightning’ from Venus may not be lightning, study finds

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe may have been revealed The secret of “lightning” storms in Venus’ cosmic journey. This discovery occurred in 2021 as Parker maneuvered around Venus using its gravitational force to get closer to the Sun.

A new paper analyzing Parker’s 2021 data reveals a truth: Bright flares likened to lightning on Venus may be something else entirely. These explosions may be linked to magnetic disturbances affecting the planet. This isn’t about rejecting the Venusian blitz altogether, it’s just about tuning in to its so-called abundance.

Although the data shows that Venus is filled with lightning, some aspects remain inconsistent. The 2021 report failed to identify radio signals that could be associated with these electrical events. However, a study conducted later that year suggested that some flashes of light attributed to lightning on Venus may have been meteors disintegrating in the atmosphere.

Scientists needed to understand the mystery of the “whistling waves” they would follow. They are bursts of energy that transform into electromagnetic waves that can be interpreted by different types of media. They pass through part of the atmosphere in their zone and stay with only half a heartbeat. Here on Earth the main cause of these waves is lightning.

In 1978, the Pioneer Venus spacecraft discovered waves on Venus. This led to a logical conclusion: Venus was full of lightning. This assumption resulted in the hypothesis that Venus has lightning about seven times the size of Earth.. After Pioneer, the Galileo spacecraft in 1990 provided further evidence of the existence of lightning.

However, Cassini’s expeditions in 1998 and 1999 failed to detect it. radio noise that often accompanies these events. Then came Venus Express, the first European observer of Venus, which between 2006 and 2014 provided suggestive evidence of lightning in what is often referred to as a “dark doppelgänger.”

When Parker encountered Venus, he collected data suggesting that Venus’ whistling waves were not caused by lightning. These waves appeared to veer downward, a trajectory that contrasted with the path taken by equivalent Earth waves.

The team later claimed that these waves were produced by: disturbances in the planet’s magnetic fields. They believe the magnetic lines surrounding Venus may break and reform, creating pulses of energy that manifest as hissing waves.

Stay up to date with the latest astronomy discoveries at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to see images revealing volcanic activity on Venus.