Venus may have once possessed vast oceans and a moon

New scientific research suggests that Venus may have once possessed both vast oceans and a natural satellite.

A study titled ‘The Lost Oceans of Venus’ by researchers Richard Ghail, Eloise Crouch, and Philippa Mason identifies geological structures, such as polygonal fracture patterns, that resemble ancient marine environments. The researchers estimate that an ancient ocean could have covered approximately 90% of the planet's surface, with a volume equal to about 40% of Earth's oceans and an average depth of 1,400 meters. The study proposes that extreme heating caused these oceans to evaporate.

Separately, research from the University of California, Riverside, published in The Astrophysical Journal, addresses why Venus lacks a moon. Astrophysicist Stephen Kane suggests that Venus may have had a moon that was eventually absorbed by the planet. Unlike Earth, Venus has an extremely slow rotation, taking 243 Earth days to complete one turn. Kane’s computational models indicate that this slow rotation, combined with the planet's gravity, would cause a moon to spiral inward and collide with the planet rather than drifting away.