The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a spacecraft called Magellan in 1989 and started to study Venus, the hottest planet in the Solar System, with this spacecraft. Past findings revealed that there are more than 1600 large volcanoes and more than 1 million small volcanoes on this planet. One of the largest of these volcanoes was called Maat Mons. Experts announced that they observed volcanic activities in a close vicinity of this volcano.

Robert Herrick, who continues his studies at the University of Alaska, announced that there may still be active volcanoes on the planet closest to Earth. This was an important announcement because direct observations of whether Venus is volcanically active have not been possible to date. The scientist states that the most recent observations date back to 1991.

So how did you find out that Venus is active?

Robert Herrick and his team, while examining data from Magellan, found that a strange event had occurred in 1991. The same region on the planet was imaged twice, 8 months apart, and the two images were different. So much so that the mouth of a relatively small volcano near Maat Mons had grown from 2 square kilometers to 4 square kilometers in 8 months. Moreover, while the mouth of the volcano was circular in the first image, it became kidney-shaped in the second image and its interior became dark. These findings were a clear indication that Venus was still active. Researchers speculate that the dark area at the mouth of the volcano is a lava lake.

In the photo above, there is a physical map of the surroundings of the volcano named Maat Mons. In the Magellan images on the right, photographs of the same area. You can easily see how different the photos taken 8 months apart are. The area designated as “New Flows” reveals lava residue, while the area named “Expanded Vent” reveals the expanding volcanic mouth.

Let’s not go without mentioning that; Robert Herrick worked with Scott Hensley, one of NASA’s Venus-related projects, to interpret his predictions. In this process, various simulation studies were carried out with today’s technologies. Studies have led to the thought that the images obtained from Magellan really were an explosion. The development that excites the experts seems to be much more important 10 years from now. Because both NASA and the European Space Agency are creating new space missions that will examine Venus in the 2030s. Studies with modern spacecraft will provide much more detailed information about Venus.