Introduction:
Phosphine gas, a simple bio-indicator molecule consisting of 1 phosphorus atom and 3 hydrogen atoms, has been found in the atmosphere of Venus.
Venus is the second planet in the solar system and is considered a sister planet to Earth. Its orbit is 2/3rds of the way between the sun and Earth (225 Earth days per Venus year), with surface temperatures of 450C.
Venus also has a very dense atmosphere, where the pressure of the surface is about 93 bar which is equivalent to being 900m under water on Earth. The atmosphere is dominated by sulphuric acid and has a severe greenhouse effect which causes the hot/inhospitable conditions.
Discovery Details:
Using the James Clark Maxwell Telescope (Hawaii, USA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (Chile), 20 parts per billion of phosphine was found at 50km altitude in Venus’ atmosphere.
The gas was measured in polar, mid, and equatorial latitudes only finding significant signals at mid latitudes.
Phosphine is known on Earth to be produced by anaerobic breakdown of organic material, as well as human activity. However, Chemists cannot reproduce the observed abundance abiotically.
Lifetime of phosphine is short in the upper atmosphere about 15 min as it is destroyed by the energetic particles from the Sun. However, it can survive in the middle layers of the atmosphere. Because of mixing and winds in the middle atmosphere, it can survive up to 1000 years before going to the upper atmosphere and being destroyed (thus it needs to be constantly replenished).
Possible sources of phosphine include, lightning, meteors, volcanos, as well as chemical reactions caused by light and heat from the sun.
Implication:
Given that phosphine is bio-indicator gas, this discovery might indicate an unlikely presence of microbial/bacterial life on Venus. This life would have to live in temperate layers of atmosphere, in sulfuric acid droplets, possibly reverting to spore stage if it falls to lower hotter layers.
This would also indicate some new avenue of natural production of phosphine, pointing to new unknown chemistry. However, still a lot of work needs to be done.
More Resources:
Official Press Conference:
Official Journal Paper:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4
News Interviews from Connor Stone:
https://www.thewhig.com/news/local-news/venus-discovery-may-have-huge-implications-queens-astronomer-says
https://globalnews.ca/video/7358163/life-on-venus-we-speak-with-an-expert-from-queens-university-on-what-that-means-for-future-research
Special thanks to Colin Vendromin for the music also thanks to Zac Kenny for the logo!