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Magnetic Reconnection in the Near Venusian Magnetotail

Coates, A. J.; Fedorov, A.; Barabash, S. +14 more

Observations with the Venus Express magnetometer and low-energy particle detector revealed magnetic field and plasma behavior in the near-Venus wake that is symptomatic of magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs in Earth’s magnetotail but is not expected in the magnetotail of a nonmagnetized planet such as Venus. On 15 May 2006, the plasma fl…

Venus’s Southern Polar Vortex Reveals Precessing Circulation

Erard, S.; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G. +5 more

Initial images of Venus’s south pole by the Venus Express mission have shown the presence of a bright, highly variable vortex, similar to that at the planet’s north pole. Using high-resolution infrared measurements of polar winds from the Venus Express Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument, we show the vortex to hav…

Recent Hotspot Volcanism on Venus from VIRTIS Emissivity Data

Drossart, Pierre; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Helbert, Joern +5 more

The questions of whether Venus is geologically active and how the planet has resurfaced over the past billion years have major implications for interior dynamics and climate change. Nine “hotspots”—areas analogous to Hawaii, with volcanism, broad topographic rises, and large positive gravity anomalies suggesting mantle plumes at depth—have been id…