Raining in the Solar System

 

Venus lightning and clouds

Lightning and clouds on Venus – an artist’s impression.

Earth is not the only place in the solar system where it rains.

Venus takes acid rain to a new level. In the clouds of Venus, it rains pure sulfuric acid, which is better known for being in your car battery. NASA probes have also confirmed the presence of lightning – not surprising, given just how thick the clouds are. Not to worry, though, the rain doesn’t actually reach the surface, which has such insane heat and pressure that the battery acid rain evaporates before hitting the surface. The surface of Venus is a volcanic hellscape (you could have pools of molten lead, and the carbon dioxide atmosphere becomes a hybrid of liquid and gas called a super-critical fluid), so the acid rain is the least of your concerns.

It says something for how hostile colonization is off of Earth that the atmosphere of Venus (50 km above the hellish surface) is seriously being considered for colonization. It helps that the CO2 atmosphere is so dense that the nitrogen/oxygen mix in our atmosphere would act like helium in a blimp. That high up, you would only need a hazmat suit, as opposed to a spacesuit, and we have a lot of experience making acid-resistant clothing.

Methane Rainstorm on Titan

Methane Rainstorm on Titan – Artist’s Impression by David Hardy https://www.astroart.org/saturn

On the other side of the thermometer, you have Titan. Titan is one of the moons that just inspires wonder. It has a frigid, mostly nitrogen atmosphere, with a temperature around the freezing point of methane (the main component of natural gas). This results in a planet where methane acts in all the ways water does on Earth. There are methane lakes, methane clouds, and methane rain – which falls slowly due to the low gravity. On the other hand, Titan’s water acts like silica on Earth. There are vast sand-dunes of water ice, and thick layers of solid ice over water, with the occasional water volcano.

Did I mention that because of the low gravity and dense atmosphere of Titan, a person could strap on wings and fly like a bird? Needless to say, Titan is on the colonization radar. It’s currently my favorite moon in the solar system.

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  1. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    OmegaPaladin (View Comment):
    I believe the jury is still out on Martian gravity being low enough to cause the same effects as weightlessness.

    I honestly don’t care much about the jury’s interpretation then. The human body optimizes muscle mass to need. That’s a fact, not just a tendency that might not be relevant if we wish real hard. People stationed on Mars will wither and become weak, unable to fend off infection or minor injury. That’s an obvious, 99% certain, outcome of living soft. Science doesn’t care about juries.

    • #31
  2. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Barfly (View Comment):
    Science doesn’t care about juries.

    In that case, science has a lot in common with James Comey. Comey doesn’t care about juries, either, because his people will make sure he is never brought to justice.   

    • #32
  3. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Barfly (View Comment):
    People stationed on Mars will wither and become weak, unable to fend off infection or minor injury.

    I didn’t know there was a relationship between muscle strength and immunity against infection.

    • #33
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):
    People stationed on Mars will wither and become weak, unable to fend off infection or minor injury.

    I didn’t know there was a relationship between muscle strength and immunity against infection.

    I don’t know why there wouldn’t be such a relationship. Everything is connected to everything, especially when it comes to the human person.   

    • #34
  5. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    Speaking of precipitation in the Solar System. I remember there is pink methane snow on Pluto. That would be an experience. 

    • #35
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