Scientists Discover Two Large Lava Flows on Venus
On May 27, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that by analyzing data from its Magellan mission, scientists have identified two volcanoes that erupted on Venus in the early 1990s, according to Xinhua.
Venus and the locations of active volcanoes marked in red in the Sif Mons area.
Specifically, according to the New York Times, by using modern software to study data from the Magellan mission, scientists found two distinct lava flows: one flowing down the slopes of Sif Mons (a broad shield volcano) and another meandering through the western part of Niobe Planitia (an area with numerous volcanoes).
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, the Magellan mission mapped 98% of Venus’s surface between 1990 and 1992, providing the most detailed images of Venus to date, according to NASA.
This latest discovery builds on a historical finding from 2023 regarding images from the synthetic aperture radar onboard Magellan. These radar images represent the first direct evidence of a recent volcanic eruption on this planet.
By comparing Magellan’s radar images over time, researchers identified changes caused by the flow of molten rock from beneath Venus’s surface filling craters and spilling down slopes.
The Magellan spacecraft, also known as the Venus Radar Mapper, is an unmanned spacecraft weighing 1,035 kg that was launched by NASA on May 4, 1989.
Magellan was the first spacecraft to photograph the entire surface of Venus and explore this planet. Even when the spacecraft plunged into Venus’s atmosphere and burnt up in 1994, it continued to collect data.
Scientists study active volcanoes to understand how a planet’s interior can shape its crust, drive evolutionary processes, and influence its habitability.
According to NASA, the discovery of recent volcanic activity on Venus offers valuable insights into the planet’s history and why it has developed along a different path compared to Earth.
