Brandon Garrett Photography of Provo, Utah, kindly granted me permission to use this stunning image of the \u201csuper blood moon\u201d lunar eclipse that occurred on Monday, 21 January 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \u201cThe Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far beyond our solar system,\u201d Scientific American<\/em> 320\/2 (February 2019): 56-63:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, although more than 25 serious proposals have been submitted to NASA in order to fund return missions to Venus, none of them has been approved. \u00a0Thus, scientists are still largely dependent upon data generated by the Magellan orbiter, which was launched toward the Sun\u2019s second planet fully thirty years ago, in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the meanwhile, fortunately, the Japanese and European space agencies have dispatched successful missions to Venus that have led to breakthroughs in understanding its atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But new discoveries have also come from sifting through and reanalyzing the old Magellan data. \u00a0Scientists now believe that Venus has considerable volcanic activity, and that it may be undergoing the start of plate tectonics, a geological feature that is currently regarded as essential to a planet\u2019s habitability. \u00a0(Ironically, therefore, the very phenomenon that causes earthquakes, which we don\u2019t like, may be critical to the existence of life, which we typically like quite a bit.) \u00a0Moreover, it now seems possible that Venus featured liquid water on its surface until relatively late in the planet\u2019s history, which means that it may have been habitable much longer than had previously been supposed.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This comes at an interesting time, when thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in other solar systems \u2014 many of which are roughly the same size as Venus and roughly the same distance from their suns. \u00a0(As of 1 January 2019, there are said to be 3,946 confirmed exoplanets in 2,945\u00a0systems, with 650 of those\u00a0systems\u00a0having more than one.) \u00a0This suggests that, if we can learn more about Venus, it may help us to understand those much more distant exoplanets, which are much harder to see and to study. \u00a0If we can learn about the history of habitability on Venus, it may help us to calculate the odds that life exists on one or more of those exoplanets, or on one of the many more that we\u2019re very likely to find over the next few years. \u00a0(The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet occurred only in 1992.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
(To be continued.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, in other interplanetary news, here\u2019s something directly relevant to the photo of the moon, above:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLife on Earth may have come from a collision with ancient planet more than 4 billion years ago\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \u201cThe Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far beyond our solar system,\u201d Scientific American 320\/2 (February 2019): 56-63: \u00a0 Unfortunately, although more than 25 serious proposals have been submitted to NASA in order to fund return missions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2869,2908,1531],"class_list":["post-69559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-exobiology","tag-exoplanet","tag-venus"],"yoast_head":"\n
"The Exoplanet Next Door"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, "The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The Exoplanet Next Door"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, "The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T01:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-26T22:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/01\/50881560_391005951446105_7478940016970825728_o.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"The Exoplanet Next Door\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-25T01:04:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-26T22:36:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \\\"The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“The Exoplanet Next Door”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The Exoplanet Next Door\"","description":" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \"The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The Exoplanet Next Door\"","og_description":" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \"The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-01-25T01:04:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-26T22:36:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/01\/50881560_391005951446105_7478940016970825728_o.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html","name":"\"The Exoplanet Next Door\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-25T01:04:28+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-26T22:36:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Notes from M. Darby Dyar, Suzanne E. Smrekar, and Stephen R. Kane, \"The Exoplanet Next Door: What Venus can teach us about planets far","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/the-exoplanet-next-door.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“The Exoplanet Next Door”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/01\/50881560_391005951446105_7478940016970825728_o.jpg\")
<\/a>