Researchers have discovered a giant atmospheric wave-like phenomenon in Venus’ lower atmosphere, unlike anything else seen in the solar system.

Sequence of infrared images of the lower clouds on Venus, showing a consistent pattern of a planetary-scale cloud discontinuity.

Image via Javier Peralta/ JAXA-Planet-C team/ Astrophysics and Space Sciences.

Scientists have announced something new and unexpected: a giant atmospheric “wave” or disruption in Venus’ lower atmosphere.

These clouds are so dense that we can’t peer beneath them to view Venus’ surface.

For this reason, the lower atmosphere and surface of Venus have remained largely mysterious.

The new atmospheric feature – a giant wall of acidic clouds – is different from previous observations in part because it’s the first huge atmospheric wave found at the lower cloud level in Venus’ atmosphere, at altitudes between 29.5 and 35 miles (47.5 and 56.5 km).

Animation showing Venus’s lower clouds (about 30 miles/ 50 km above the surface) in infrared light.

Image via Javier Peralta/ JAXA-Planet C team/ Astrophysics and Space Sciences.

Pedro Machado – of the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, part of the University of Lisbon in Portugal – said in a statement:.

The Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences has had a long-running research program studying Venus’ winds.

Huge cloud patterns have been observed before in Venus’ atmosphere, such as the Y wave, a dark Y-shaped structure found in the upper atmosphere that covers nearly the whole planetary disk.

There is also a 6,200-mile-long (10,000-km-long) bow-shaped stationary wave, also in the upper clouds layers, thought to be caused by the planet’s huge mountain ranges.

Image via Javier Peralta/ JAXA-Planet C team/ Astrophysics and Space Sciences.

Ultraviolet image of the Y wave in Venus’ upper atmosphere, from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter on February 26, 1979.

The bow-shaped atmospheric wave in Venus’ upper atmosphere, as seen by Akatsuki in 2015.

Bottom line: Researchers have discovered a giant atmospheric wave-like phenomenon in Venus’ lower atmosphere, something not seen anywhere else in the solar system.

Source: A Long-Lived Sharp Disruption on the Lower Clouds of Venus.