Data from the European space probe BepiColombo showed that large amounts of gases, including carbon and oxygen, were leaking from Venus’ atmosphere. The information was obtained as the Mercury-bound apparatus passed Venus; The atmosphere was found to be leaking. In the future, these data will help study the magnetic environment of Venus.

Earth has its own magnetic field that protects our atmosphere from leaking into space, but Venus has no such mechanism. This is because the cooler interior of the planet’s core is not surrounded by molten matter, whose movement is necessary to create and maintain a magnetic field. Electric currents in Venus’ atmosphere are created due to sunlight, on which the planet’s magnetosphere is dependent and unstable.

In August 2021, the BepiColombo probe was inside this weak magnetosphere for 90 minutes when it had to slow down and adjust its course on its way to Mercury. This time was enough for scientists to collect valuable information about Venus. Charged particles, or ions, likely leave the planet’s atmosphere because sunlight accelerates them to extremely high speeds; This effect appears to be enough to push particles away from the planet’s gravity into space. “These are generally slow-moving heavy ions, so we’re still trying to understand the mechanisms at work here.”– said Lina Hadid, head of the research project, researcher at the Plasma Physics Laboratory in France.

Venus’ dense atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide, but also contains nitrogen and other gaseous impurities. Previously, scientists had managed to detect a small amount of oxygen rising on the night side of Venus, and later it became clear that this element is also present in small amounts on the day side of the planet. Now French scientists have discovered that the oxygen concentration on Venus decreases simultaneously with the decrease in solar radiation. Examining the molecule loss mechanisms of the Venus atmosphere “It is very important to understand how the planet’s atmosphere developed and how it lost all its water.”— added study co-author Dominique Delcourt.

BepiColombo is expected to reach Mercury in late 2025. Multiple probes will visit Venus in the next decade: the European Envision as well as the American DAVINCI and VERITAS – all set to launch around 2031.