The cloud discontinuity is a planetary-scale phenomenon in the mid-level of the Venusian clouds which might be the key for understanding of Venus's atmosphere dynamics and its superrotation. The phenomenon is recurrent since at least 1980s, though only a little attention has been paid to it until recently. The cloud discontinuity is detectable in infrared light as a dark feature stretching vertically across the dayside face of the planet. Continuous monitoring of the phenomenon and its development are of scientific interest and here the amateur community can greatly contribute.
The cloud discontinuity was observed last time during the 2019/2020 eastern elongation by a team of amateur astronomers led by Javier Peralta and Manos Kardasis. The results were published in the February 2022 issue of
Atmosphere. I was delighted to be a member of that team.
In May 2022, the phenomenon has been captured already 5 times and should be systematically monitored further. Therefore, observations with IR filters are highly required. Please refer to the
ALERT by Javier Peralta and Manos Kardasis for more information.
The amateur astronomers are encouraged to submit their images to public repositories such as
ALPO Japan and
PVOL databases.
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