“Venus Zone”

[Waspie_Dwarf]

“Venus Zone” Narrows Search for Habitable Planets

Long before the hunt began to find Earth lookalikes around other stars, one planet in the Solar System had already been named Earth’s twin. With its similar size and mass, Venus measures very close to Earth, with one major yet significant difference. Its thick atmosphere makes temperatures on the planet hot enough to melt lead, and therefore most certainly too hot to sustain life.

In order to weed out Venus-like planets from those that would be more habitable, several scientists, including planetary scientist Stephen Kane of San Francisco State University, proposed the establishment of a “Venus zone” around stars, a region where the atmosphere could be consumed by a runaway greenhouse effect that superheats its planets.

“We’re specifically trying to make it clear that size is no indication of habitability,” Kane told Astrobiology Magazine.

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