New observations of the second planet from the Sun made with ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft during a period of reduced solar wind pressure have provided evidence that the ionosphere of the planet is elongated downstream, rather like a long-tailed comet. Comet-like ionosphere of Venus (ESA / Y. Wei et al) The ionosphere is a region of weakly electrically charged gas high above the main body of a planet’s atmosphere. Its shape and density are partly...
