Venus has frequent bursts of lightning

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - Nearby Venus is looking a bit more Earth-like with frequent bursts of lightning confirmed by a new European space probe.

For nearly three decades, astronomers have said Venus probably had lightning — ever since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of electrical activity in its atmosphere. But experts weren't sure because of signal interference.

Now a magnetic antenna on the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe proved that the lightning was real.

"We consider this to be the first definitive evidence of abundant lighting on Venus," David Grinspoon of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science told reporters Wednesday at a briefing in Paris.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_sc/venus_ligh...

[gorbal]

1. Ummmm..

When they find out Venus has cable TV and broadband cable, THEN I'll be surprised. I think there is life of some sort on every planet, quiet frankly. If you look at the extremes that life can exist in, it is foolish to assume it only exists on earth.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. Too many people assume all life will have to resemble some kind of life on earth

I don't. Which I'm sure is whey I find discoveries such as this one to be so fascinating.

[mlevans]

3. I wonder why

the illustration accompanying the article was an "artist's rendition" of the phenomenon rather than the actual photograph. That's what I'd be interested to see, how it was similar to or different from Terran lightning strikes.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Because they have no images of it.

The lightening was confirmed via a magnetic antenna and what I assume they would have been reading were the electromagnetic waves.

Perhaps someday though.

[alfredo]

5. The heat and corrosive atmosphere soon destroys equipment.

they did send back a few images before the probe died.





Venus's atmosphere




images from Here:

http://athene.as.arizona.edu/~lclose/teaching/a202/lect...

[slackmaster]

6. Somewhere in that sulfuric acid haze layer the temperature would be quite pleasant

Until the acid eats you.

[alfredo]

7. There won't be much of a comfort zone.

[slackmaster]

8. Not for very long, anyway

[alfredo]

9. It depends what comes first, nice temps or the H2SO4

[ContraBass Black]

11. misread.

[ohio2007]

10. another sign global warming is man made and threatens the entire

universe



Mankind 'shortening the universe's life'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Algorem]

12. Women are from Venus,I think they said in school.

They like lightning?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. must be my ex. She struck out often, in that fashion.

Not conductive to happy living situations.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. More interesting - it probably once had water on the surface

Venus lacks the Earth's magnetic shield, which means that its atmosphere feels the full onslaught of the solar wind - a stream of charged particles from our star - and cosmic radiation, and has done so for billions of years.

The absence of this shield means that hydrogen, helium and oxygen are blown away by the solar wind much faster than happens on Earth.

The scientists think that Venus may once have held copious amounts of water on its surface.

But the solar wind removed most of it during the first billion years or so after the formation of the Solar System.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7117303.stm