Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2014
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| Radar view of Venus. Credit: NASA |
Scientists have discovered several hotspots on Venus. These hotspots, if on or near the surface would have a minimum temperature of 525 degrees Centigrade up to 820 degrees Centigrade, making these spots noticeably hotter than the average temperature of 480 degrees Centigrade.
The hotspots were seen on the images taken of the Maat Mons region, using the Venus Monitoring Camera, which works in near-infrared and hence makes it possible to see the surface of Venus despite the thick atmosphere, because it's almost transparent for near-infrared wavelengths.
The images showed bright spots on the edge of Ganiki Chasma, and are thought to have erupted in the end of 2013.
Whether or not there are active volcanoes on Venus has not yet been confirmed. The team who made the discovery is planning to also look through the Magellan spacecraft's radar images to see whether there have been other hot spots in rift areas.