We have known for some time that our neighbor Venus is hell outside of the earth, but new science suggests it's worse than we thought.
In addition to its toxic atmosphere and (literally) lead-melting temperatures, the second planet from the sun appears to be home to at least a few dozen active volcanoes that expose sulfur to improve the ambience.
"This is the first time that we can point to certain structures and say: 'See, this is not an old volcano, but one that is active today, maybe dormant but not dead," said Laurent Montési, geology professor at University of Maryland, in a press release. "This study changes Venus' view from a largely inactive planet to a planet whose interior is still moving and can feed many active volcanoes."
Montési is a co-author of a new paper published on Monday in Nature Geoscience that identifies 37 "recently active volcanic structures" on Venus.
Ironically, geologically active planets with hot interiors tend to be better candidates for habitability, since a molten core can also drive a magnetic field to deflect sterilizing radiation from the sun and space.
As an abandoned place, Venus is the rare active planet that does not generate its own magnetic field internally. This planet is really as inviting as a mouthful of barbed wire.
Scientists have known for some time that there is evidence of volcanic activity on Venus, but it has been thought that these are probably the remains of ancient activity.
Montési and colleagues used 3D models of Venus' activity below the surface to investigate the features on the surface of the planet in a new way and to identify potentially active hotspots.
The team hopes that future missions to Venus could get a better insight into their eruptive nature. However, it can take a while how many space programs there are aim at Mars now.
The BepiColombo spaceship towards Mercury will be flying past Venus in the next 13 months. Perhaps we will familiarize ourselves with the worst place in the solar system soon enough.
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