What are the satellites of Venus?This is a question that has occupied the minds of scientists for several centuries. This mysterious cosmic body was the only planet that received the name in honor of the female goddess. However, the uniqueness of Venus is not only this. What is known about the satellites of a mysterious planet, reminiscent of Earth by gravity, composition and dimensions? Did they ever exist?
It all started with an interesting discovery thatmade in 1672 by the astronomer Giovanni Cassini. One of the most outstanding scientists of that time accidentally discovered a small point, which is near to Venus. Fearful of making a mistake that would make him a laughing stock in scientific circles, the astronomer first refrained from promulgating his discovery. However, the object was again seen by him after 14 years, which the scientist did not conceal. If you believe the calculations done by Cassini, the diameter of the object was less than the diameter of the planet about four times.
Several decades later, othersfamous scientists have discovered the mysterious Nate. The satellite of Venus (the name was invented later) was noticed by such outstanding astronomers as Shot, Mayer, Lagrange. By 1761 information about the object was present in the works of five independent observers, in total it was seen 18 times. Of greatest interest to modern researchers are the records of Shouten, who in 1761 observed how Venus crossed the solar disk paired with a small dark point following it. Again the mysterious satellite was seen in 1764 by two more observers, and then seen by the astronomer Horrebau in 1768.
Do Venus have satellites?The discovery of Cassini made the astronomical world split into two militant camps. Some scientists claimed that they had seen with their own eyes a mysterious dark point, while other astronomers insisted that it never existed.
An interesting treatise, written in 1766the head of the Vienna Observatory, Hell, who claimed that the object seen was just an optical illusion and nothing more. Hell explains his theory by the brightness of the image of Venus, the ability of the light emanating from the planet to be reflected from the eyes of the observers. If you believe his words, being reflected, the light again appears inside the telescope, resulting in creating another image that has a smaller size.
Supporters of the theory that the satellites of Venusthere are, of course, did not agree with the opposite opinion set forth in the treatise Hell. They gave various counterarguments, most of which have not survived to this day, since they were not confirmed by facts.
Gradually formed and the third group of scientists,the ideological inspiration of which became the director of the Brussels Royal Ozo Observatory. Scientist Ozo suggested in 1884 that the above object is approaching the planet approximately every 1080 days, representing a separate planet, not a satellite. If you believe his opinion, Nate made a revolution around the Sun for 283 days, so it was fixed just a few times. By the way, the name of the mysterious point was suggested to these scientists.
In 1887, on the initiative of Ozo,a large-scale study, during which the works of all scientists who supposedly saw the satellites of Venus were studied. It was found that in some cases astronomers took for the satellites stars that can be seen next to the planet, named after the goddess woman. For example, the alleged satellite of the astronomer Horrebau was just a star belonging to the constellation of Libra.
Are there any natural satellites of Venus?The first negative answer to this question was dared to give the Dane Carl Jansen. In 1928, an astronomer, famous in the last century, publicly declared that the planet, named after the goddess woman, lacks satellites. Jansen called erroneous observations of his colleagues, as described above. He was firmly convinced that the satellites of Venus not only do not exist, but never existed.
Gradually, scientists halted attemptsTo find satellites of Venus, finally recognizing their absence. This does not mean that the issue was finally closed and ceased to cause curiosity among representatives of the scientific world. One after another, various theories began to arise concerning the mysterious disappearance of the satellites of the planet that had existed before. The most interesting hypotheses on this issue are proposed below.
How many satellites did Venus have, if one believesone of the most popular theories, which many academicians adhere to these days? One is the one that disappeared, collapsed on the planet under the influence of the tidal forces of the Sun. These forces significantly reduced the speed of rotation of Venus, as a result of which the object is too close to the planet. As you know, the cosmic body, which received its name in honor of the goddess, has more power than the Earth. Not surprisingly, Venus easily attracted her own companion, as a result of which the trace was not preserved.
Supporters of the theory, unfortunately, argue thatit can not be proved by facts. The fact is that astronomers, at the time of the disappearance of the satellite, unfortunately did not possess powerful apparatuses that allowed to capture the catastrophe that had occurred. Consequently, the scientific world can never prove or disprove the above hypothesis.
Supporters of the second theory are also activeare interested in the past of a mysterious planet, called Venus. How many satellites she once had, if you rely on their arguments? Scientists claim that there is only one, considering Mercury as such. There were times when Mercury was only a satellite of this planet, but gradually separated and acquired its own planetary orbit.
Why did this happen?Scientists who adhere to the second most popular theory, are also inclined to blame the tidal force of the Sun in everything. Proof of this assumption, according to their arguments, is the too slow rotation of Venus. After all, we managed to establish that the day on this planet is equal to eight months spent on Earth. In addition, astronomers refer to the temperature of the planet, believing that it became so hot directly under the influence of a too massive satellite.
The third group of scientists also takesFor several centuries the burning question is: what are they - satellites of Venus. The list of those, if you believe their opinion, has always been empty. The cosmic body remained alone throughout its existence in the solar system. People who adhere to this hypothesis assume that Venus arose as a result of a large-scale catastrophe, which is a collision of two cosmic bodies (planetoids).
It is a disaster, according to supportersthird theory, is the only reason that the planet under study can not have a natural satellite. Of course, there are other hypotheses that are less popular, but to a consensus the representatives of the scientific world could not come.
One can not help but touch upon another interesting question:about what they are - artificial satellites of Venus. The first of them was launched in June 1975. It was the Soviet "Venus-9", developed on the territory of the Moscow-based NGO named after Lavochkin. It is curious that the "Venera-9" from the technical point of view significantly exceeded the previous apparatus of the Soviet Union. The mass of the famous artificial satellite, whose launch became a sensation all over the world, was approaching five tons.
Already in October 1975 the device successfully reachedup to the lit side of Venus, which can not be seen from our planet. The translation of the images of the surface of the "Morning Star" was started, as Soviet scientists poetically called Venus. Interestingly, this was the first time that images were transmitted to Earth from the surface of another planet. Of course, the photos were black and white, the landscape of Venus caused associations with the mountainous terrain in the winter. Communication with the device lasted for an hour, which in those days was a major achievement.
Even knowing the answer to the question about how muchSatellites have Venus, people do not stop to study this mysterious planet. It is known that the program dedicated to the study of the cosmic body, within which the launch of the "Venus-9" was launched, ceased to exist. This happened in the mid-80's, which was due to lack of funding and other problems. However, at the moment Roskosmos is working on a grandiose project, the purpose of which is the launch of automatic interplanetary stations to Venus.
It is assumed that the stations "Venera-Glob" and"Venus-D" will be launched around the middle of the next decade, the exact date is still kept secret. Of course, at various times, the United States also sent artificial satellites to study the planet. These were the devices belonging to the "Mariner" series.
Thus, it is established that the satellites of Venus,the number of which is considered in this article, are absent. But the planet, named after the goddess, has a quasi-satellite, which is an asteroid. The conventional name of this space object is 2002 VE68, at the moment it is used all over the world. Own name of the quasipatellite has not yet been awarded.
About this asteroid is relatively little known, soAs it was discovered only in 2002. It is established that the space object crosses the objects of the three planets, it is Venus, Mercury and Earth. Its rotation around the Sun is carried out in such a way that there is an orbital resonance between the quasi-satellite and Venus. It is this resonance that allows an asteroid to remain intimate with the "Morning Star" for a long time.
Studies have shown that the quasipatellite near Venuswas formed about seven thousand years ago. Presumably, he was in the orbit of the "Morning Star" during the rapprochement with the Earth. Scientists claim that the asteroid will stay in orbit of Venus for about five hundred years, and then move on to rapprochement with the Sun. The exact time can not be calculated yet, but representatives of the scientific world do not give up, continuing to study this issue.
Will there ever be satellites of Venus?Some scientists do not exclude such a possibility categorically, but they say that it will hardly happen in the next few hundred years. Consequently, even for a long time next to the "Morning Star" will be only spacecraft and quasiputope. Other scientists and do not believe that Venus has the ability to have satellites. Only time can show which group was right and which was wrong.
It is curious that Venus is not at allThe only planet of the solar system, which has no natural satellites. Not so long ago, scientists have established that they are absent from Mercury. It is interesting that for a certain time it was assumed that the satellites of this planet once existed, and then disappeared. However, studies have shown the fallacy of such a version. It turned out that a star belonging to the constellation of the Chalice was taken as a natural satellite.
It is known that the first of its artificialsatellite Mercury acquired only in March 2011. It was then that the "Messenger" spacecraft, belonging to the United States, finally came to him. The answer to the question of how many satellites Venus had been received much earlier.
