Strange signals on Venus may be coming from an erupting volcano

Venus, Earth’s hellish doppleganger. | NASA/JPL-Caltech

A new study adds to a growing pile of evidence that Venus may be volcanically active — a finding that, if true, would help explain how volcanoes impact planetary evolution and habitability across the cosmos. The research, which focuses on strange signals coming from a Venusian volcano called Idunn Mons, is fueling excitement about future missions to Earth’s nearest neighbor that will settle the matter once and for all.

It’s long been known that Venus is covered in some seriously surreal volcanoes. But it is impossible to tell from Earth whether they are still oozing lava today, because Venus’s thick and hazy atmosphere obscures whatever may be happening on the ground.

Now, using archival observations from old orbiter missions and the...

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