Venus is known to possess a hellish environment, where its surface is so hot that it can disintegrate lead, paired up with acid rainstorms that can instantly burn holes on spacecraft. Apart from this, scientists have also recently detected that monster electric winds can appear and just strip away the remaining water and moisture from its atmosphere.

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In the past, scientists have suggested that all planets and exoplanets possess an electric field covering the entire atmosphere, which are produced by charge particles in the ionosphere. However, Earth's electric field still goes by undetected where scientists believe that it emits a very weak charge of one to two volts.

However, on Venus, its electric field is so powerful and looming, which can be thought as a "monster lurking in the skies", as described by lead author of the study, Glyn Collinson from NASA's Goddard Flight Space Center where the team collected crucial data from the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission, to obtain measurements of Venusian electric field for the first time ever.

However, on Venus, the electric field is so massive, that it is five times bigger than Earth's, on Mars and Saturn's moon Titan. The electric field is so powerful that it generates its own wind which is unlike any gusty winds we see on Earth but more akin to solar winds, which is a powerful stream of charged particles being emitted by the sun.

This newest discovery on Venus can provide pivotal clues why the planet contains just the most minimal amount of water, despite possessing the same composition as Earth's. The electric winds work when sunlight shines on these water molecules in the vapor found in the atmosphere that then causes a jolt of energy, breaking into ions of hydrogen and oxygen. On Venus, this electric wind is so strong that it can accelerate these oxygen ions into atmospheric escape velocities.

Collinson explains that gravity needs to be overcome in order to strip the atmosphere of water, and this is the exact mechanism how solar winds strip away water in Venusian atmosphere. He adds, since powerful electric fields might exist in other planets as well, this will become an important requirement to consider when searching for habitable exoplanets or even those that are "Earth-like".

This new study is published in the journal, Geophysical Research Letters

Tagselectric winds venus, venus, monster electric winds, venus water atmosphere, venus environment, solar system, electric field venus