Listen To Sounds Of Planet Venus' Atmosphere, Captured By NASA Parker Probe
Reported first by NASA, this radio emission is said to be natural in origin and was detected at an altitude of 517 miles over the Venusian surface.
The Parker Solar Probe that¡¯s on its mission to help us unravel the mysteries of our Sun has now managed to record a radio signal in the atmosphere of Venus, during one of its close passes in July 2020.
NASA
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Reported first by NASA, this radio emission is said to be natural in origin and was detected at an altitude of 517 miles over the Venusian surface. This was also the first time the planet¡¯s upper atmosphere has been measured since 1992. The last visit was by NASA¡¯s Pioneer Venus Orbiter.
Even though there have been several probes and spacecraft that have passed by Venus in the recent decades, the newest trip made by Parker sheds light on a mystery about how the plant reacts to the solar activities over its 11-year solar cycle.
In a planet¡¯s or a moon¡¯s atmosphere (one¡¯s that have an atmosphere, that is) the upper layer is known as the ionosphere, named after the ionisation of particles due to the Sun¡¯s radiation. This ionosphere has the ability to produce natural radio emissions due to the interaction of charged particles in them.
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Due to the influence of the Sun on the ionosphere, scientists believe that Venus¡¯s ionosphere could get thicker or thinner depending on the Sun¡¯s solar cycles. When Pioneer visited the planet, nearly 30 years ago, the sun was approaching its maximum phase. On the other, Parker made its approach right after the solar minimum, allowing scientists to directly test if Venus¡¯s ionosphere does thin during the sun¡¯s less-active phase.
NASA
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Glyn Collison, a Venus expert at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who led the study, explains, ¡°During the 7 minutes around the closest approach, one of its scientific instruments detected low©\frequency radio emission of a type naturally generated by planetary ionospheres,¡±
¡°By measuring the frequency of this emission, we can directly calculate the density of the ionosphere around Parker, finding it to be far less dense than previous missions have encountered. This supports the theory that the ionosphere of Venus varies substantially over the 11-year solar cycle,¡± he added.
Hear what the Venusian atmosphere sounds like:
