Prof. Yoav Yair from the Open University participates in the analysis of the findings of the Japanese Akotaki spacecraft that was launched to Venus this weekend

Prof. Yoav Yair from the Department of Natural and Life Sciences at the Open University was invited to participate as a guest researcher in a study that will review the atmosphere of the neighboring planet - Venus * The forecast for tomorrow: Venus 500 degrees

Japan launched on Thursday (20.5) a new spacecraft that will explore the planet Venus and the climate that prevails there. The spacecraft, named Okatsuki ("Dawn" in Japanese, "Ayelet Hashar" in Hebrew is the poetic name of the planet Venus) is expected to arrive at Venus in early December where it will enter a satellite orbit around the star for two years and collect data on the atmosphere, clouds, temperature and wind strength on the planet. An amount equal to 280 million dollars was invested in the development of the spacecraft.

Among the hundreds of researchers taking part in the research and the spacecraft journey will be the Israeli researcher Prof. Yoav Yair from the Department of Natural and Life Sciences at the Open University, who was invited to participate in a study that will deal with photographing the high atmosphere of the star Wais after lightning in and above the clouds as a guest researcher by researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan following his research on storms and lightning sprites (lightning sprites - rare natural phenomena that occur above strong thunderstorms). As I recall, Prof. Yair was a partner in the MEIDEX project - the experiment that was carried out during the last flight of the shuttle Columbia, by the crew members who later perished on their way back to Earth, including Ilan Ramon. In this experiment, the researchers measured what happens in dust storms and lightning storms around the world.

The research will deal with the analysis of images and the calculation of climate indicators on the planet Venus which the spacecraft will pass and will help researchers understand the properties of the clouds and the probability of lightning on the bright planet.

With the help of the data and since the atmosphere on Venus is extremely different from ours on Earth (60% carbon dioxide, the clouds are composed of sulfuric acids and the temperature on the surface of the planet is higher than 500 degrees Celsius), the researchers will try to understand what changes are taking place in our atmosphere and we will better understand the prevailing climate on Earth .

The launch of the spacecraft, as photographed by the Japanese Space Agency