Ganiki Chasma
Ganis Chasma is a group of rift zones on the surface of the planet Venus. Bright spots detected by the Venus Monitoring Camera on the European Space Agency's '' Venus Express'' in the area suggest that there may be active volcanism on Venus. Introduction Ganis Chasma consists of a group of rift zones located in the Ganiki Planitia Quadrangle on Venus. A chasma is defined as a long, narrow, steep sided depression on a planet. These depressions, or canyons, formed as a result of extensional tectonics due to volcanism. Ganis Chasma is associated with volcanism of Sapas Mons, a coronae feature located in the Alta Regio region of Venus. The rifts that make up Ganis Chasma formed in the shape of an arc along the edge of Sapas Mons, orientated in a north–south direction. Little is known about ongoing volcanic activity on Venus. So far, no volcanic activity has been determined to have occurred in the last two million years. In 2008 and 2009 images taken by the Venus Monitoring Camera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker and denser than Earth and any other rocky body in the Solar System. Its atmosphere is composed of mostly carbon dioxide (), with a global sulfuric acid cloud cover and no liquid water. At the mean surface level the atmosphere reaches a temperature of and a pressure 92 times greater than Earth's at sea level, turning the lowest layer of the atmosphere into a supercritical fluid. Venus is the third brightest object in Earth's sky, after the Moon and the Sun, and, like Mercury, appears always relatively close to the Sun, either as a "morning star" or an "evening star", resulting from orbiting closer ( inferior) to the Sun than Earth. The orbits of Venus and Earth make the two planets approach each other in synodic periods of 1.6 years ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2025 annual budget was €7.7 billion. The ESA Human and Robotic Exploration programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station programme); as well as the launch and operation of missions to Mars and Moon. Further activities include science missions to Jupiter, Mercury, the Sun, Earth observation, Asteroid impact avoidance and Telecommunications missions, designing launch vehicles; and maintaining Europe's Spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou (French Guiana). Further programmes include space safety, satellite navigation, applications and commercialisation. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 6 is operated through Arianespace ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Venus Express
''Venus Express'' (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014. History The mission was proposed in 2001 to reuse the design of the ''Mars Express'' mission. However, some mission characteristics led to design changes: primarily in the areas of thermal control, communications and electrical power. For example, since Mars is approximately twice as far from the Sun as Venus, the radiant heating of the spacecraft is four times greater for ''Venus Express'' than '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ganiki Chasma
Ganis Chasma is a group of rift zones on the surface of the planet Venus. Bright spots detected by the Venus Monitoring Camera on the European Space Agency's '' Venus Express'' in the area suggest that there may be active volcanism on Venus. Introduction Ganis Chasma consists of a group of rift zones located in the Ganiki Planitia Quadrangle on Venus. A chasma is defined as a long, narrow, steep sided depression on a planet. These depressions, or canyons, formed as a result of extensional tectonics due to volcanism. Ganis Chasma is associated with volcanism of Sapas Mons, a coronae feature located in the Alta Regio region of Venus. The rifts that make up Ganis Chasma formed in the shape of an arc along the edge of Sapas Mons, orientated in a north–south direction. Little is known about ongoing volcanic activity on Venus. So far, no volcanic activity has been determined to have occurred in the last two million years. In 2008 and 2009 images taken by the Venus Monitoring Camera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rift
In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben with normal faulting and rift-flank uplifts mainly on one side. Where rifts remain above sea level they form a rift valley, which may be filled by water forming a rift lake. The axis of the rift area may contain volcanic rocks, and active volcanism is a part of many, but not all, active rift systems. Major rifts occur along the central axis of most mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust and lithosphere is created along a divergent boundary between two tectonic plates. ''Failed rifts'' are the result of continental rifting that failed to continue to the point of break-up. Typically the transition from rifting to spreading develops at a triple junction where three converging rifts meet over a hotspot. Two of these evolve to t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chasma
In planetary nomenclature, a chasma (''plural'': chasmata ) is a deep, elongated, steep-sided Depression (geology), depression. As of 2020, the International Astronomical Union, IAU has named 122 such features in the Solar System, on Venus (63), Mars (25), Saturn's satellites Mimas (moon), Mimas (6), Tethys (moon), Tethys (2), Dione (moon), Dione (8) and Rhea (moon), Rhea (5), Uranus's satellites Ariel (moon), Ariel (7), Titania (moon), Titania (2) and Oberon (moon), Oberon (1) and Pluto's satellite Charon (moon), Charon (3). An example is Eos Chasma on Mars. Mars Below are images of some of the major chasmata of Mars. The map shows their relative locations. Interior layered deposits and sulfate Parts of the floor of Candor Chasma contains layered deposits that have been termed interior layered deposits (ILD's). These layers may have formed when the whole area was a giant lake. Some places on Mars contain hydrated sulfate deposits. Sulfate formation involves the presence of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Extensional Tectonics
Extensional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the Tectonics, tectonic processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's Crust (geology), crust or lithosphere. Deformation styles The types of structure and the geometries formed depend on the amount of stretching involved. Stretching is generally measured using the parameter ''β'', known as the ''beta factor'', where : \beta = \frac \,, ''t''0 is the initial crustal thickness and ''t''1 is the final crustal thickness. It is also the equivalent of the Strain (materials science), strain parameter ''stretch''. Low beta factor In areas of relatively low crustal stretching, the dominant structures are high to moderate angle normal faults, with associated half grabens and tilted block faulting, tilted fault blocks. High beta factor In areas of high crustal stretching, individual extensional faults may become rotated to too low a dip to remain active and a new set of faults may be generated. Lar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sapas Mons
Sapas Mons is a large volcano located in the Atla Regio region of Venus. Description Sapas is named after the Canaanite sun goddess. It measures about across and high. Its flanks show numerous overlapping lava flows. The dark flows on the lower right of the radar image are thought to be smoother than the brighter ones near the central part of the volcano. Many of the flows appear to have been erupted along the flanks of the volcano rather than from the double summit. This type of flank eruption is common on large volcanoes on Earth, such as the Hawaiian volcanoes. The summit area has two flat-topped mesas, whose smooth tops give a relatively dark appearance in the radar image. Also seen near the summit are groups of pits, some as large as one kilometer (0.6 mile) across. These are thought to have formed when underground chambers of magma were drained through other subsurface tubes and lead to a collapse at the surface. A impact crater An impact crater is a depressio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grabens
In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The first known usage of the word in the geologic context was by Eduard Suess in 1883. The plural form is either ''graben'' or ''grabens''. Formation A graben is a valley with a distinct escarpment on each side caused by the displacement of a block of land downward. Graben often occur side by side with horsts. Horst and graben structures indicate tensional forces and crustal stretching. Graben are produced by sets of normal faults that have parallel fault traces, where the displacement of the hanging wall is downward, while that of the footwall is upward. The faults typically dip toward the center of the graben from both sides. Horsts are parallel blocks that remain between graben; the bounding faults of a horst typically dip away from the center line of the horst. Single or multipl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pit Craters
A pit crater (also called a subsidence crater or collapse crater) is a depression formed by the sinking or collapse of the surface lying above a void or empty chamber, rather than by the eruption of a volcano or lava vent. Pit craters are found on Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Pit craters are often found in a series of aligned or offset chains; in these cases, the features is called a ''pit-crater chain''. Pit-crater chains are distinguished from catenae or crater chains by their origin. When adjoining walls between pits in a pit-crater chain collapse, they become troughs. In these cases, the craters may merge into a linear alignment and are commonly found along extensional structures such as fractures, fissures, and graben. Pit craters usually lack an elevated rim as well as the ejecta deposits and lava flows that are associated with impact craters.Okubo, Chris, and Stephen Martel. "Pit crater formation on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii." Journal of Volcanology and Geoth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Observed Transient Bright Spots On Ganiki Chasma, Venus
Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during the scientific activity. Observations can be qualitative, that is, the absence or presence of a property is noted and the observed phenomenon described, or quantitative if a numerical value is attached to the observed phenomenon by counting or measuring. Science The scientific method requires observations of natural phenomena to formulate and test hypotheses. It consists of the following steps: # Ask a question about a phenomenon # Make observations of the phenomenon # Formulate a hypothesis that tentatively answers the question # Predict logical, observable consequences of the hypothesis that have not yet been investigated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |