New Venus Studies Probe the Dynamic Atmosphere Below the Clouds and Reveal the Complexities of Hazy Worlds

UWAB graduate student, Giada Arney, and VPL colleagues, present the first maps of cloud opacity, droplet sulfuric acid percentage, and trace gases in the Venus lower atmosphere. Unexpected temporal and spatial variations of several species may be related to rainout processes, and variable hemispherical dichotomies suggest that the Venusian troposphere is just as dynamic as higher layers of the atmosphere. There may be many Venus-like exoplanets, and understanding the planet next door is the first step to understanding these other worlds.