Ashen light
Luces Ashen
- Date
- 1643 · confidence high
- Place
- Bologna, Italy
- Credited to
- Giovanni Battista Riccioli
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A faint glow occasionally observed on the night side of Venus, first described by Jesuit astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli; its cause — lightning, intrinsic emission, or telescope optical effects — remains unconfirmed.
The phenomenon has not been scientifically confirmed; it may stem from optical effects of the observer or instrument rather than a real emission from Venus.
What it led to
- motivated centuries of observations and hypotheses about Venus's atmosphere
- spurred the search for lightning and electrical activity in Venus's atmosphere
- remains an unresolved astronomical phenomenon still under debate