Editor's Summary
29 November 2007
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ESA's Venus Express probe has been in orbit since April 2006. Eight research papers in this issue present new results from the mission, covering the atmosphere, polar features, interactions with the solar wind and the controversial matter of venusian lightning. Håkan Svedham et al. open the section with a review of the similarities and (mostly) differences between Venus and its 'twin', the Earth. Andrew Ingersoll considers the latest results, and also how the project teams plan to make the most of the probe's remaining six years of life.
News and Views: Venus: Express dispatches
The Venus Express mission has returned its first findings on the harsh atmosphere of our sister planet. It's another step towards explaining how Venus turned out so differently from our balmy home.
Andrew P. Ingersoll
doi:10.1038/450617a
Focus: Venus as a more Earth-like planet
Håkan Svedhem, Dmitry V. Titov, Fredric W. Taylor & Olivier Witasse
doi:10.1038/nature06432
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (577K)
Letter: Morphology and dynamics of the upper cloud layer of Venus
W. J. Markiewicz, D. V. Titov, S. S. Limaye, H. U. Keller, N. Ignatiev, R. Jaumann, N. Thomas, H. Michalik, R. Moissl & P. Russo
doi:10.1038/nature06320
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (537K)
Letter: South-polar features on Venus similar to those near the north pole
G. Piccioni, P. Drossart, A. Sanchez-Lavega, R. Hueso, F. W. Taylor, C. F. Wilson, D. Grassi, L. Zasova, M. Moriconi, A. Adriani, S. Lebonnois, A. Coradini, B. Bézard, F. Angrilli, G. Arnold, K. H. Baines, G. Bellucci, J. Benkhoff, J. P. Bibring, A. Blanco, M. I. Blecka, R. W. Carlson, A. Di Lellis, T. Encrenaz, S. Erard, S. Fonti, V. Formisano, T. Fouchet, R. Garcia, R. Haus, J. Helbert, N. I. Ignatiev, P. G. J. Irwin, Y. Langevin, M. A. Lopez-Valverde, D. Luz, L. Marinangeli, V. Orofino, A. V. Rodin, M. C. Roos-Serote, B. Saggin, D. M. Stam, D. Titov, G. Visconti, M. Zambelli & the VIRTIS-Venus Express Technical Team
doi:10.1038/nature06209
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (643K) | Supplementary information
Letter: A dynamic upper atmosphere of Venus as revealed by VIRTIS on Venus Express
P. Drossart, G. Piccioni, J. C. Gérard, M. A. Lopez-Valverde, A. Sanchez-Lavega, L. Zasova, R. Hueso, F. W. Taylor, B. Bézard, A. Adriani, F. Angrilli, G. Arnold, K. H. Baines, G. Bellucci, J. Benkhoff, J. P. Bibring, A. Blanco, M. I. Blecka, R. W. Carlson, A. Coradini, A. Di Lellis, T. Encrenaz, S. Erard, S. Fonti, V. Formisano, T. Fouchet, R. Garcia, R. Haus, J. Helbert, N. I. Ignatiev, P. Irwin, Y. Langevin, S. Lebonnois, D. Luz, L. Marinangeli, V. Orofino, A. V. Rodin, M. C. Roos-Serote, B. Saggin, D. M. Stam, D. Titov, G. Visconti, M. Zambelli, C. Tsang & the VIRTIS-Venus Express Technical Team
doi:10.1038/nature06140
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,489K)
Letter: A warm layer in Venus' cryosphere and high-altitude measurements of HF, HCl, H2O and HDO
Jean-Loup Bertaux, Ann-Carine Vandaele, Oleg Korablev, E. Villard, A. Fedorova, D. Fussen, E. Quémerais, D. Belyaev, A. Mahieux, F. Montmessin, C. Muller, E. Neefs, D. Nevejans, V. Wilquet, J. P. Dubois, A. Hauchecorne, A. Stepanov, I. Vinogradov, A. Rodin & the SPICAV/SOIR team
doi:10.1038/nature05974
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (384K) | Supplementary information
Letter: The loss of ions from Venus through the plasma wake
S. Barabash, A. Fedorov, J. J. Sauvaud, R. Lundin, C. T. Russell, Y. Futaana, T. L. Zhang, H. Andersson, K. Brinkfeldt, A. Grigoriev, M. Holmström, M. Yamauchi, K. Asamura, W. Baumjohann, H. Lammer, A. J. Coates, D. O. Kataria, D. R. Linder, C. C. Curtis, K. C. Hsieh, B. R. Sandel, M. Grande, H. Gunell, H. E. J. Koskinen, E. Kallio, P. Riihelä, T. Säles, W. Schmidt, J. Kozyra, N. Krupp, M. Fränz, J. Woch, J. Luhmann, S. McKenna-Lawlor, C. Mazelle, J.-J. Thocaven, S. Orsini, R. Cerulli-Irelli, M. Mura, M. Milillo, M. Maggi, E. Roelof, P. Brandt, K. Szego, J. D. Winningham, R. A. Frahm, J. Scherrer, J. R. Sharber, P. Wurz & P. Bochsler
doi:10.1038/nature06434
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (666K) | Supplementary information
Letter: Little or no solar wind enters Venus' atmosphere at solar minimum
T. L. Zhang, M. Delva, W. Baumjohann, H.-U. Auster, C. Carr, C. T. Russell, S. Barabash, M. Balikhin, K. Kudela, G. Berghofer, H. K. Biernat, H. Lammer, H. Lichtenegger, W. Magnes, R. Nakamura, K. Schwingenschuh, M. Volwerk, Z. Vörös, W. Zambelli, K.-H. Fornacon, K.-H. Glassmeier, I. Richter, A. Balogh, H. Schwarzl, S. A. Pope, J. K. Shi, C. Wang, U. Motschmann & J.-P. Lebreton
doi:10.1038/nature06026
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (401K)
Letter: The structure of Venus' middle atmosphere and ionosphere
M. Pätzold, B. Häusler, M. K. Bird, S. Tellmann, R. Mattei, S. W. Asmar, V. Dehant, W. Eidel, T. Imamura, R. A. Simpson & G. L. Tyler
doi:10.1038/nature06239
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (509K) | Supplementary information
Letter: Lightning on Venus inferred from whistler-mode waves in the ionosphere
C. T. Russell, T. L. Zhang, M. Delva, W. Magnes, R. J. Strangeway & H. Y. Wei
doi:10.1038/nature05930