Venus Lost Its Water Because Of 'Electric Winds,' Scientists Say

Everybody knows that there is no water on Venus. However, a team of researchers working with ESA's (European Space Agency) Venus Express mission believes that the oceans that once existed on the surface of the planet were swept away by powerful electric winds.

Recently, the American space agency NASA reported on its website that the team of scientists working on the mission have kind of solved the mystery behind the disappearance of the oceans from the surface of the planets. The team discovered the planet's electric field while monitoring electrons that flowed through the planet's upper atmosphere.

The team made the discovery with the help of an electron spectrometer, which is a part of an instrument called ASPERA-4. Using the instrument aboard ESA Venus Express, the scientists found that the electrons were not escaping at the same velocity as they had expected.

The scientists believe that the speed of the electrons was influenced by the electric field of the planet, which is thought to be at least five times greater and more powerful than the electric field of the Earth.

Every planet has a gravity field and each planet with an atmosphere has a weak electric field surrounding it. These two fields are opposite to each other as gravity tends to hold the atmosphere together, but the electric field pushes the upper layers of the atmosphere into the space.

In case of Venus, fast-moving Hydrogen escapes easily. In addition, the strong electric field of the planet can even force heavier and charged components of water, such as oxygen ions, to escape the gravity of the planet. The sunlight, in turn, breaks down water in the upper layer of the atmosphere and the components are driven away by the electric field.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center scientist Glyn Collinson describes electric winds as "this big monster that's capable of sucking the water from Venus by itself."