Researchers have found new evidence that Venus may still be geologically active, challenging the idea that the planet’s enormous rift valleys are simply remnants of its distant past.

The surface of Venus is all about 500 million years old —largely because it doesn’t have plate tectonics, as Earth does — which suggests the second planet from the sun is dormant. However, a new paper published in Nature Geoscience developed high-resolution computer simulations to investigate how rift valleys on Venus form and evolve. Their findings suggest some may be geologically young and could still be moving or have stopped moving relatively recently.

It could help scientists identify areas of Venus for closer examination during upcoming missions to Earth’s planetary neighbor.

Venus Rift Valleys Could Still Be Active

Despite its similarities in size and composition to Earth, scientists once thought Venus had become largely geologically dormant. Recent evidence of active volcanism is changing that picture.

Rift valleys are produced as a planet’s crust stretches and pulls apart. On Venus, these enormous structures can extend for up to 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers). Scientists previously believed they formed more than 100 million years ago. This new research suggests some could be much younger.

New 3D Models Reveal Venus Tectonic Activity

The researchers developed a computer model to simulate high-resolution rifts in 3D, showing that young rift valleys develop broad, elevated, ridge-like flanks while still actively moving. The models suggest Venusian rifts may widen at approximately 3 to 10 centimeters per year, but once they stop moving, the flanks sink.

Future Venus Missions Could Target Active Regions

The findings come as interest in Venus grows, with NASA and the European Space Agency preparing missions to investigate the planet. The researchers are part of ESA’s EnVision mission, which is expected to launch in the early 2030s and investigate Venus from its interior to its upper atmosphere. Their simulations could help scientists identify potentially active rift systems for future spacecraft to examine more closely.

What happened on Venus is critical in understanding how rocky planets form and evolve beyond our solar system.

Venus Gets Closer To Earth

Venus is currently getting closer to Earth, waning to a crescent as it does. It’s visible in the west after dark, shining brightly as the “Evening Star.” As its crescent — a consequence of it being an inner planet relative to Earth — shrinks and it gets closer, Venus will get brighter until Sept. 18-22, when it will dim and recede from view. It will reach inferior conjunction with the sun on Oct. 24, when it will be lost in the sun’s glare, soon after emerging into the pre-dawn sky to shine brightly as the “Morning Star,” this time as a waxing crescent.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.