Venus, electric fly trap?

[Ray McCarthy]

Its heavy atmosphere should mean that the water is trapped as steam, but measurements show that it has 10,000 to 100,000 times less water than earth's atmosphere. A team of scientists led by NASA has found that the missing steam is blown away by an 'electric wind.'

When water molecules rise to the top of the atmosphere, sunlight makes them dissociate and they are split into ions. Venus' strong electric field – which is five times greater than earth's – accelerates the charged ions to speeds faster than 25,000 miles per hour (40,234 km per hour). At this speed, gravity can no longer contain the ions and they whizz off into the blackness of space.

Astroboffins discover rapid 'electric winds' blowing on Venus

Fascinating!

 

[Serendipity]

Hm... err... I hate to say this... I have something very similar in my published Venus story, Flex and Flux. It was based on ancient observations, i.e. the phenomenon isn't visible today. I just put those observations back onto Venus and let the boffins' speculation lead the rest of th eway.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I hate to say this

Why?
Aren't you pleased?

 

[J Riff]

Windsurfers take note. Make sure you are grounded.

 

[Serendipity]

Why?
Aren't you pleased?

I suppose I suffer from the traditional British need to be self-deprecating... OK - so I'm a smug-puss!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I can hear the purring here, or is it my laptop and PC fans?

 

[J Riff]

So this atmoshphere flies off into space... and if you were thrown out the airlock of an enemy UFO... you might hit a pocket of escaped 02, from Venus, and be able to drift away to safety in a bubble.... there's a story there somewhere, but is it fantasy, Science fiction, or just rubbish?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

you might hit a pocket of escaped 02, from Venus,

I don't think so.

accelerates the charged ions to speeds faster than 25,000 miles per hour