Venus May Not Have Been As Earthlike As Scientists Thought

[Judi Lynn]

By Elizabeth Howell 7 hours ago



An artist's depiction of what Venus could have looked like if it once had large oceans.(Image: © NASA)

Was Venus once covered in a liquid water ocean? A new study suggests it was not, which could diminish hope that eons ago, warm and wet conditions allowed life to arise on the planet.

Today, Venus' climate is far from temperate. The planet is completely shielded by clouds and has a hell-like surface; a runaway greenhouse gas effect makes for lead-melting temperatures of more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 degrees Celsius).

But some scientists argue that the requirements for life could have existed on Venus earlier in the solar system's history. Venus is roughly the same size and mass as Earth and even had plate tectonics. The sun was also dimmer during that epoch, so Venus, despite being closer to the sun than Earth is, was in the habitable zone, or the region where a rocky planet could have liquid water on its surface.

An artist's depiction of what Venus could have looked like if it once had large oceans.(Image: © NASA)
Was Venus once covered in a liquid water ocean? A new study suggests it was not, which could diminish hope that eons ago, warm and wet conditions allowed life to arise on the planet.

Today, Venus' climate is far from temperate. The planet is completely shielded by clouds and has a hell-like surface; a runaway greenhouse gas effect makes for lead-melting temperatures of more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 degrees Celsius).

But some scientists argue that the requirements for life could have existed on Venus earlier in the solar system's history. Venus is roughly the same size and mass as Earth and even had plate tectonics. The sun was also dimmer during that epoch, so Venus, despite being closer to the sun than Earth is, was in the habitable zone, or the region where a rocky planet could have liquid water on its surface.

More:
https://www.space.com/venus-not-so-earthlike-after-all.html

[qazplm135]

1. it didn't take long for us to get water

if the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and the oceans started filling up about 3.8 billion years ago, then it took about 700K years for water to start forming.

So I guess the question is, how long did it take for Venus to become too hot for oceans?

Well, my understanding is it happened about 4 billion years ago.

but 4 billion years ago there was still no water on the Earth...so maybe, it's the case that Venus transitioned before water could have formed in the first place?

[eppur_se_muova]

3. That's 700M years. nt

[AllaN01Bear]

2. emanuell velecoski vindicated .