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Article: Venus: on the nose at last. (measurements of solar winds on Venus)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- November 2, 1985
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1985 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Venus: On the nose at last
Numerous spacecraft have been studying Venus for nearly a quarter century, beginning with the first one ever sent to another planet, the United States' Mariner 2 in 1962. Yet only now has such a probe finally been able to answer a key question about the planet's interaction with the sun, an exotic relationship that may be unique amount all the planets of the solar system.
At the heart of the matter is a single measurement: the distance from Venus of the "nose' of the huge shock wave formed where the planet is struck at supersonic speeds by the sun-spawned outpouring of charged particles called the solar wind. The resulting ...