The atmosphere of Venus is not a separate part of the planet that does not interact with its solid surface in any way.
Researchers from the University of California, led by Stephen Cain, discovered that the reason the year on Venus is shorter than a day is the planet’s dense atmosphere with strong winds. Space reported this.
“Venus’s atmosphere is not a separate part of the planet that does not interact with its solid surface in any way. It affects everything on the planet, even the speed of its rotation,” the scientists said. .
According to them, without the atmosphere, the rotation of this planet around its axis would have the same speed as the rotation of the planet around the Sun. This is called synchronous rotation. That is, the rotation of a small object around its axis is synchronized with the rotation around a large cosmic body. So, a year in such a small thing equals one day.
In addition, an object with simultaneous rotation always has only one side towards its larger neighbor. A good example is the Moon.
The author of the study says it often takes millions of years for celestial bodies to rotate simultaneously.
At the same time, Venus would take 6.5 million years to become a celestial body with simultaneous rotation. It is noted that this is a small amount of time.
“This means that there must be a good reason why the period of rotation around its axis of Venus does not yet coincide with the period of rotation of the planet around the Sun. I believe the object is in the atmosphere of Venus “The wind blows at very high speeds along the planet’s surface as it rotates, and this slows down the speed of Venus’ rotation around its axis, and makes the Sun’s gravitational attraction less strong.” added the scientist.
At the same time, the Sun prevents Venus from having a simultaneous rotation. Its energy makes the atmosphere of this planet more active and provides energy for wind storms.
“The fact that we have found a connection between Venus’s atmosphere and its influence on the planet’s synchronous rotation could have far-reaching consequences. And not just for Venus,” the scientists said.
Recall that the American company Orbital Assembly announced plans to build a space station in orbit of the Earth in 2025 for scientific research and a hotel for tourists.
The crew of the Chinese space station returns to Earth
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Source: korrespondent
