Venus Has a Surprisingly Chilly Layer Although similar in size
to Earth, the planet-next-door Venus is typically perceived as a
hellish inferno of caustic clouds, crushing pressures and kiln-
like temperatures. And while those are indeed all very much the
case, Venus has recently been found to have a cooler side too…
although it’s 125 km (77 miles) up in its atmosphere. In a new
analysis based on five years of observations using ESA’s Venus
Express, scientists have uncovered a very chilly layer at
temperatures of around –175ºC in the atmosphere 125 km above the
planet’s surface. The curious cold layer is far frostier than
any part of Earth’s atmosphere, for example, despite Venus being
much closer to the Sun. The discovery was made by watching as
light from the Sun filtered through the atmosphere to reveal the
concentration of carbon dioxide gas molecules at various
altitudes along the terminator – the dividing line between the
day and night sides of the planet. “It is special, as we do not
see a similar tempe