(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists have discovered something new on the surface of Venus: evidence that more than 30 years ago, the volcano was active for eight months.
NASA‘s Magellan spacecraft took pictures in the early 1990s as it orbited the second planet from the Sun, which is similar in size and composition to Earth.
A new analysis of an image taken by the orbiter near the Venusian equator shows a volcanic vent that has changed shape and significantly increased in size in eight months.
A 3D computer rendering of Maat Mons shows the volcano and lava flows hundreds of kilometers across the cracked plains.
The images of the vent represent the first direct geological evidence of recent volcanic activity on the surface of Venus, the researchers say.
In the next decade, scientists are going to send a fleet of new missions to Venus, including the VERITAS Venusian Radiation Mission.
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