Ashen light

For the similar appearance with the Earth's moon, see Earthlight (astronomy).

Ashen light is a hypothesised subtle glow that has been claimed to be seen on the night side of the planet Venus. The phenomenon has not been scientifically confirmed, and theories as to the observed phenomenon's cause are numerous, such as emission of light by Venus, or optical phenomena within the observing telescope itself. A modern hypothesis as to the source of light on Venus suggests it to be associated with lightning,[1] for which there is some evidence on Venus.[2][3] This theory has fallen out of favour, however, as there is not enough light generated by this lightning so as to be observed.[4] A more recent hypothesis is that it is a form of transient aurorae or airglow caused by unusually high solar activity interacting with the upper Venusian atmosphere.[5][6][7][8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Russell, Philips was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  5. ^ Vergano, Dan (November 12, 2014). "'Solar Sneezes' May Trigger Auroras Around Venus". National Geographic. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021.
  6. ^ Royer, Emilie; Gray, Candace; Brecht, Amanda; Gorinov, Dmitry; Bougher, Stephen (2021-03-18). "Importance of airglow and auroral emissions as tracers of Venus' upper atmosphere dynamics and evolution". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 53 (4): 015. Bibcode:2021BAAS...53d.015R. doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.265c70b6. S2CID 236739731.
  7. ^ Gray, Candace; Kovac, Sarah; Nordheim, Tom; Stemock, Bryson; DeColibus, David (2021-10-03). "The Venusian Oxygen Green Line — A Proton Aurora?". Bulletin of the AAS. 53 (7).
  8. ^ University, New Mexico State. "Astronomers discover new clues to the 40-year-old mystery behind Venus's green glow". phys.org. Retrieved 2022-04-01.