Much like identical twins that form different personalities, the Earth and Venus were nearly indistinguishable at birth, but now conjure vastly separate images. For years, scientists have been unsure why Venus developed to host vast swaths of molten rock, while the Earth cultivated countless species. Now, a group of Japanese scientists have discovered the key factor in each planet's contradictory development: distance from the sun.
In a study published in the journal Nature, this team suggests that their conclusion will assist researchers in their quest for habitable planets. Tokyo University professor Keiko Hamano and his team write, "The timing of the end of [Venus and Earth's early] phase also determines the starting point for subsequent events, such as water ocean formation, and possibly the onset of plate tectonics and the development of life."
Space.com explains that Venus is covered by flat, smooth plains that are marred by thousands of volcanoes, ranging from about 0.5 to 150 miles (0.8 to 240 kilometers) wide, with lava flows carving long, winding canals up to more than 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) in length, longer than on any other planet."
The study adds, "The present results indicate that for habitable plants, rapid ocean formation would have occurred within several million years of planet formation."
Venus' closer proximity to the sun altered the planet's atmosphere and allowed for a sustained uninhabitable environment to take hold.
Hamano adds, "In a situation such [that] a magma ocean sustains very long, the planets are covered with a thick atmosphere. Therefore, unfortunately, it would be difficult to observe their surface temperatures directly," reports Space.com.
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