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Atmosphere loss from solar wind, ESA observations with Mars and Venus Express
imipak
post Mar 6 2008, 11:51 PM
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I was stumbling about esa.int in the vain search for some sign of live streaming coverage of the Jules Verne launch on Sunday when I came across this beautiful and hypnotic movie, showing the top layers of the atmosphere being blown away by the solar wind.


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tanjent
post Mar 8 2008, 02:37 PM
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I believe the "movie" is a simulation, or else how could an actual time-lapse study reproduce the same vantage point and phase angle for repeated exposures? It is indeed pretty, though. Do we have any idea what the time scale is supposed to be? What do you suppose is driving the pulsating effect? Is this supposed to represent the effect of the sun's rotation repeatedly bringing a "hot spot" to bear on the planet?

Anyway, the CO2 atmospheres of both Mars and Venus do lack the lighter gases, particularly nitrogen and water vapor, retained by the Earth. I guess this simulation makes pretty clear how that happened.
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