Scientists in Italy have revisited data originally from NASA’s Magellan’s radar, and their findings show geological evidence of volcanic activity detected on Venus that suggests eruptions are more frequent than previously thought.
Venus, the second closest planet to the sun, has experienced surface changes that indicate the formation of new rock from lava flows connected to volcanoes that erupted as the Magellan spacecraft orbited the planet, Italian scientists concluded from archival NASA data.
Magellan orbited Venus from 1990 to 1992, mapping 98% of the planet’s surface and providing the most detailed image to be generated to date. Upon reviewing NASA’s data, the scientists from the University of d’Annunzio in Pescara Italy found that by using the maps as a guide their results “show Venus may be far more volcanically active than previously thought,” said leader of the study, Davide Sulcanese.
By analyzing the data, the Italy-based scientists have “observed two locations on the planet, where volcanic activity on Venus could be comparable to that on Earth.” Data including volcanic activity is important for scientists to understand the planet’s interior structure and how it can evolve, and impact habitability.
Scientists study active volcanoes to understand how a planet’s interior can shape its crust, drive its evolution, and affect its habitability. NASA wrote: “The discovery of recent volcanism on Venus provides a valuable insight into the planet’s history and why it took a different evolutionary path than Earth.”
According to NASA, Venus has been visited by more than 40 spacecraft. The Magellan mission used imaging through a synthetic aperture radar to map the surface in high resolution.