Life on Venus

Last updated

The atmosphere of Venus as viewed in ultraviolet by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1979. The cause of the dark streaks in the clouds is not yet known. Venuspioneeruv.jpg
The atmosphere of Venus as viewed in ultraviolet by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1979. The cause of the dark streaks in the clouds is not yet known.

The possibility of life on Venus is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to Venus's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no definitive evidence has been found of past or present life there. In the early 1960s, studies conducted via spacecraft demonstrated that the current Venusian environment is extreme compared to Earth's. Studies continue to question whether life could have existed on the planet's surface before a runaway greenhouse effect took hold, and whether a relict biosphere could persist high in the modern Venusian atmosphere.

Contents

With extreme surface temperatures reaching nearly 735 K (462 °C; 863 °F) and an atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth, the conditions on Venus make water-based life as we know it unlikely on the surface of the planet. However, a few scientists have speculated that thermoacidophilic extremophile microorganisms might exist in the temperate, acidic upper layers of the Venusian atmosphere. [1] [2] [3] In September 2020, research was published that reported the presence of phosphine in the planet's atmosphere, a potential biosignature. [4] [5] [6] However, doubts have been cast on these observations. [7] [8]

As of 8 February 2021, an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via phosphine) and Mars (via methane) was reported. [9] On 2 June 2021, NASA announced two new related missions to Venus: DAVINCI and VERITAS . [10]

Surface conditions

Venus Venus from Mariner 10.jpg
Venus

Because Venus is completely covered in clouds, human knowledge of surface conditions was largely speculative until the space probe era. Until the mid-20th century, the surface environment of Venus was believed to be similar to Earth, hence it was widely believed that Venus could harbor life. In 1870, the British astronomer Richard A. Proctor said the existence of life on Venus was impossible near its equator, [11] but possible near its poles.

Microwave observations published by C. Mayer et al. [12] in 1958 indicated a high-temperature source (600 K). Strangely, millimetre-band observations made by A. D. Kuzmin indicated much lower temperatures. [13] Two competing theories explained the unusual radio spectrum, one suggesting the high temperatures originated in the ionosphere, and another suggesting a hot planetary surface.

In 1962, Mariner 2, the first successful mission to Venus, measured the planet's temperature for the first time, and found it to be "about 500 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit)." [14] Since then, increasingly clear evidence from various space probes showed Venus has an extreme climate, with a greenhouse effect generating a constant temperature of about 500 °C (932 °F) on the surface. The atmosphere contains sulfuric acid clouds. In 1968, NASA reported that air pressure on the Venusian surface was 75 to 100 times that of Earth. [15] This was later revised to 92 bars, [16] almost 100 times that of Earth and similar to that of more than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep in Earth's oceans. In such an environment, and given the hostile characteristics of the Venusian weather, life as we know it is highly unlikely to occur.

Foto de Venera 9.png
Venera 9 returned the first image from the surface of another planet in 1975. [17]

Past habitability potential

Scientists have speculated that if liquid water existed on its surface before the runaway greenhouse effect heated the planet, microbial life may have formed on Venus, but it may no longer exist. [18] Assuming the process that delivered water to Earth was common to all the planets near the habitable zone, it has been estimated that liquid water could have existed on its surface for up to 600 million years during and shortly after the Late Heavy Bombardment, which could be enough time for simple life to form, but this figure can vary from as little as a few million years to as much as a few billion. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] A study published in September 2019 concluded that Venus may have had surface water and a habitable condition for around 3 billion years and may have been in this condition until 700 to 750 million years ago. If correct, this would have been an ample amount of time for the formation of life, [24] and for microbial life to evolve to become aerial. [25] Since then, there have been more studies and climate models, with different conclusions.

There has been very little analysis of Venusian surface material, so it is possible that evidence of past life, if it ever existed, could be found with a probe capable of enduring Venus's current extreme surface conditions. [26] [27] However, the resurfacing of the planet in the past 500 million years [28] means that it is unlikely that ancient surface rocks remain, especially those containing the mineral tremolite which, theoretically, could have encased some biosignatures. [27]

Studies reported on 26 October 2023 suggest Venus, for the first time, may have had plate tectonics during ancient times, and, as a result, may have had a more habitable environment, and possibly one capable of life forms. [29] [30]

Suggested panspermia events

It has been speculated that life on Venus may have come to Earth through lithopanspermia, via the ejection of icy bolides that facilitated the preservation of multicellular life on long interplanetary voyages. "Current models indicate that Venus may have been habitable. Complex life may have evolved on the highly irradiated Venus, and transferred to Earth on asteroids. This model fits the pattern of pulses of highly developed life appearing, diversifying and going extinct with astonishing rapidity through the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, and also explains the extraordinary genetic variety which appeared over this period." [31]

Cataclysmic events

Between 700 and 750 million years ago, a near-global resurfacing event triggered the release of carbon dioxide from rock on the planet, which transformed its climate. [32] In addition, according to a study from researchers at the University of California, Riverside, Venus would be able to support life if Jupiter had not altered its orbit around the Sun. [33]

Present habitability of its atmosphere

Atmospheric conditions

Although there is little possibility of existing life near the surface of Venus, the altitudes about 50 km (31 mi) above the surface have a mild temperature, and hence there are still some opinions in favor of such a possibility in the atmosphere of Venus. [34] [35] The idea was first brought forward by German physicist Heinz Haber in 1950. [36] In September 1967, Carl Sagan and Harold Morowitz published an analysis of the issue of life on Venus in the journal Nature. [26]

In the analysis of mission data from the Venera , Pioneer Venus and Magellan missions, it was discovered that carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were present together in the upper atmosphere. Venera also detected large amounts of toxic chlorine just below the Venusian cloud cover. [37] Carbonyl sulfide is difficult to produce inorganically, [35] but it can be produced by volcanism. [38] Sulfuric acid is produced in the upper atmosphere by the Sun's photochemical action on carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and water vapor. [39] The re-analysis of Pioneer Venus data in 2020 has found part of chlorine and all of hydrogen sulfide spectral features are instead phosphine-related, meaning lower than thought concentration of chlorine and non-detection of hydrogen sulfide. [40]

Solar radiation constrains the atmospheric habitable zone to between 51 km (65 °C) and 62 km (−20 °C) altitude, within the acidic clouds. [3] It has been speculated that clouds in the atmosphere of Venus could contain chemicals that can initiate forms of biological activity and have zones where photophysical and chemical conditions allow for Earth-like phototrophy. [41] [42] [43]

Potential biomarkers

Unknown absorbers

It has been speculated that any hypothetical microorganisms inhabiting the atmosphere, if present, could employ ultraviolet light (UV) emitted by the Sun as an energy source, which could be an explanation for the dark lines (called "unknown UV absorber") observed in the UV photographs of Venus. [44] [45] The existence of this "unknown UV absorber" prompted Carl Sagan to publish an article in 1963 proposing the hypothesis of microorganisms in the upper atmosphere as the agent absorbing the UV light. [46]

In August 2019, astronomers reported a newly discovered long-term pattern of UV light absorbance and albedo changes in the atmosphere of Venus and its weather, that is caused by "unknown absorbers" that may include unknown chemicals or even large colonies of microorganisms high up in the atmosphere. [47] [48]

In January 2020, astronomers reported evidence that suggests Venus is currently (within 2.5 million years from present) volcanically active, and the residue from such activity may be a potential source of nutrients for possible microorganisms in the Venusian atmosphere. [49] [50] [51]

In 2021, it was suggested the color of "unknown UV absorber" match that of "red oil", a known substance comprising a mix of organic carbon compounds dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid. [52]

Phosphine

ALMA Detection of phosphine in 2020

Research published in September 2020 indicated the detection of phosphine (PH3) in Venus's atmosphere by Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope that was not linked to any known abiotic method of production present or possible under Venusian conditions. [4] [5] [6] However, the claimed detection of phosphine was disputed by several subsequent studies. [53] [54] [55] [56] A molecule like phosphine is not expected to persist in the Venusian atmosphere since, under the ultraviolet radiation, it will eventually react with water and carbon dioxide. PH3 is associated with anaerobic ecosystems on Earth, and may indicate life on anoxic planets. [57] Related studies suggested that the initially claimed concentration of phosphine (20 ppb) in the clouds of Venus indicated a "plausible amount of life," and further, that the typical predicted biomass densities were "several orders of magnitude lower than the average biomass density of Earth’s aerial biosphere.” [58] [59] As of 2019, no known abiotic process generates phosphine gas on terrestrial planets (as opposed to gas giants [60] ) in appreciable quantities. The phosphine can be generated by geological process of weathering olivine lavas containing inorganic phosphides, but this process requires an ongoing and massive volcanic activity. [61] Therefore, detectable amounts of phosphine could indicate life. [62] [63] In July 2021, a volcanic origin was proposed for phosphine, by extrusion from the mantle. [64]

In a statement published on October 5, 2020, on the website of the International Astronomical Union's commission F3 on astrobiology, the authors of the September 2020 paper about phosphine were accused of unethical behaviour and criticized for being unscientific and misleading the public. [65] Members of that commission have since distanced themselves from the IAU statement, claiming that it had been published without their knowledge or approval. [66] [67] The statement was removed from the IAU website shortly thereafter. The IAU's media contact Lars Lindberg Christensen stated that IAU did not agree with the content of the letter, and that it had been published by a group within the F3 commission, not IAU itself. [68]

By late October 2020, the review of data processing of the data collected by both ALMA used in original publication of September 2020, and later James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) data, has revealed background calibration errors resulting in multiple spurious lines, including the spectral feature of phosphine. Re-analysis of data with a proper subtraction of background either does not result in the detection of the phosphine [53] [54] [55] or detects it with concentration of 1ppb, 20 times below original estimate. [69]

Example PH3 spectrum, from the circled region superimposed on the continuum image based on a re-analysis of the re-processed data. Example PH3 spectrum, from the circled region superimposed on the continuum image.png
Example PH3 spectrum, from the circled region superimposed on the continuum image based on a re-analysis of the re-processed data.

On 16 November 2020, ALMA staff released a corrected version of the data used by the scientists of the original study published on 14 September. On the same day, authors of this study published a re-analysis as a preprint using the new data that concludes the planet-averaged PH3 abundance to be ~7 times lower than what they detected with data of the previous ALMA processing, to likely vary by location and to be reconcilable with the JCMT detection of ~20 times this abundance if it varies substantially in time. They also respond to points raised in a critical study by Villanueva et al. that challenged their conclusions and find that so far the presence of no other compound can explain the data. [70] [71] [72] [69] The authors reported that more advanced processing of the JCMT data was ongoing. [69]

Other measurements of phosphine

Re-analysis of the in situ data gathered by Pioneer Venus Multiprobe in 1978 has also revealed the presence of phosphine and its dissociation products in the atmosphere of Venus. [40] In 2021, a further analysis detected trace amounts of ethane, hydrogen sulfide, nitrite, nitrate, hydrogen cyanide, and possibly ammonia. [73]

The phosphine signal was also detected in data collected using the JCMT, though much weaker than that found using ALMA. [7]

In October 2020, a reanalysis of archived infrared spectrum measurement in 2015 did not reveal any phosphine in the Venusian atmosphere, placing an upper limit of phosphine volume concentration 5 parts per billion (a quarter of value measured in radio band in 2020). [74] However, the wavelength used in these observations (10 microns) would only have detected phosphine at the very top of the clouds of the atmosphere of Venus. [7]

In 2022, observations of Venus using the SOFIA airborne infrared telescope failed to detect phosphine, with an upper limit on the concentration of 0.8 ppb announced for Venusian altitudes 75–110 km. [56] A subsequent reanalysis of the SOFIA data using nonstandard calibration techniques resulted in a phosphine detection at the concentration level ~ 1 ppb, [75] but this work is yet to be peer-reviewed and therefore remains questionable. If present, phosphine appears to be more abundant in pre-morning parts of the Venusian atmosphere. [75]

Planned measurements of phosphine levels

ALMA restarted 17 March 2021 after a year-long shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and may enable further observations that could provide insights for the ongoing investigation. [72] [76]

Despite controversies, NASA is in the beginning stages of sending a future mission to Venus. The Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy mission (VERITAS) would carry radar to view through the clouds to get new images of the surface, of much higher quality than those last photographed thirty-one years ago. The other, Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus (DAVINCI+) would actually go through the atmosphere, sampling the air as it descends, to hopefully detect the phosphine. [77] [78] In June 2021, NASA announced DAVINCI+ and VERITAS would be selected from four mission concepts picked in February 2020 as part of the NASA's Discovery 2019 competition for launch in the 2028–2030 time frame. [79]

BepiColombo , launched in 2018 to study Mercury, flew by Venus on October 15, 2020, and on August 10, 2021. Johannes Benkhoff, project scientist, believes BepiColombo's MERTIS (Mercury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer) could possibly detect phosphine, but "we do not know if our instrument is sensitive enough". [80]

There is also an ongoing long-term monitoring campaign with JCMT to study phosphine and other molecules in Venus's atmosphere. [81]

Confusion between phosphine and sulfur dioxide lines

According to new research announced in January 2021, the spectral line at 266.94 GHz attributed to phosphine in the clouds of Venus was more likely to have been produced by sulfur dioxide in the mesosphere. [82] That claim was refuted in April 2021 for being inconsistent with the available data. The detection of PH3 in the Venusian atmosphere with ALMA was recovered to ~7 ppb. [69] By August 2021 it was found the suspected contamination by sulfur dioxide was contributing only 10% to the tentative signal in phosphine spectral line band in ALMA spectra taken in 2019, and about 50% in ALMA spectra taken in 2017. [83]

Speculative biochemistry of Venusian life

Conventional water-based biochemistry is nearly impossible in Venusian conditions. In June 2021, calculations of water activity levels in Venusian clouds based on data from space probes showed these to be two magnitudes too low at the examined places for any known extremophile bacteria to survive. [84] [85]

In August 2021, it was suggested that even the saturated hydrocarbons are unstable in ultra-acid conditions of Venusian clouds, making cell-based Venusian life concepts problematic. Instead, it was proposed that Venusian "life" may be based on self-replicating molecular components of "red oil" – a known class of substances consisting of a mixture of polycyclic carbon compounds dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid. [52]

In December 2021, it was suggested Venusian life – as the chemically most plausible cause – may photochemically produce ammonia from available chemicals, resulting in life-bearing droplets becoming a slurry of ammonium sulfite with less acidic pH of 1. These droplets would deplete sulfur dioxide in upper cloud layers as they settle down, explaining the observed distribution of sulfur dioxide in atmosphere of Venus, and may make the clouds no more acidic than some extreme terrestrial environments that harbor life. [86]

Speculative life cycles of Venusian life

The hypothesis paper in 2020 has suggested the microbial life of Venus may have a two-stage life cycle. The metabolically active part of such a cycle would have to happen within cloud droplets to avoid a fatal loss of liquid. After such droplets grow large enough to sink under the force of gravity, organisms would fall with them into hotter lower layers and desiccate, becoming small and light enough to be raised again to the habitable layer by small-scale turbulence. [87]

The hypothesis paper in 2021 has criticized the concept above, pointing to the large stagnancy of lower haze layers in Venus making return from the haze layer to relatively habitable clouds problematic even for small particles. Instead, an in-cloud evolution model was proposed where organisms are evolving to become maximally absorptive (dark) for the given amount of biomass and the darker, solar-heated areas of cloud are kept afloat by thermal updrafts initiated by organisms itself. [52]

See also

Possible life on other bodies of the Solar System

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extraterrestrial life</span> Life not on earth

Extraterrestrial life, alien life, or colloquially simply aliens is life which does not originate from Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humanity. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terraforming</span> Hypothetical planetary engineering process

Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable for humans to live on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venus</span> Second planet from the Sun

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is a terrestrial planet and is the closest in mass and size to its orbital neighbour Earth. Venus is notable for having the densest atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, composed mostly of carbon dioxide with a thick, global sulfuric acid cloud cover. At the surface it has a mean temperature of 737 K and a pressure of 92 times that of Earth's at sea level. These conditions are extreme enough to compress carbon dioxide into a supercritical state close to Venus's surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habitable zone</span> Orbits where planets may have liquid surface water

In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. The bounds of the HZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's biosphere, the nature of the HZ and the objects within it may be instrumental in determining the scope and distribution of planets capable of supporting Earth-like extraterrestrial life and intelligence.

A biosignature is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides scientific evidence of past or present life on a planet. Measurable attributes of life include its complex physical or chemical structures, its use of free energy, and the production of biomass and wastes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observations and explorations of Venus</span>

Observations of the planet Venus include those in antiquity, telescopic observations, and from visiting spacecraft. Spacecraft have performed various flybys, orbits, and landings on Venus, including balloon probes that floated in the atmosphere of Venus. Study of the planet is aided by its relatively close proximity to the Earth, compared to other planets, but the surface of Venus is obscured by an atmosphere opaque to visible light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonization of Venus</span> Proposed colonization of the planet Venus

The colonization of Venus has been a subject of many works of science fiction since before the dawn of spaceflight, and is still discussed from both a fictional and a scientific standpoint. However, with the discovery of Venus's extremely hostile surface environment, attention has largely shifted towards the colonization of the Moon and Mars instead, with proposals for Venus focused on habitats floating in the upper-middle atmosphere and on terraforming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmosphere of Venus</span> Gas layer surrounding Venus

The atmosphere of Venus is primarily of supercritical carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth. The temperature at the surface is 740 K, and the pressure is 93 bar (1,350 psi), roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) under water on Earth. The Venusian atmosphere supports opaque clouds of sulfuric acid, making optical Earth-based and orbital observation of the surface impossible. Information about the topography has been obtained exclusively by radar imaging. Aside from carbon dioxide, the other main component is nitrogen. Other chemical compounds are present only in trace amounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean world</span> Planet containing a significant amount of water or other liquid

An ocean world, ocean planet, panthalassic planet, maritime world, water world or aquaplanet, is a type of planet that contains a substantial amount of water in the form of oceans, as part of its hydrosphere, either beneath the surface, as subsurface oceans, or on the surface, potentially submerging all dry land. The term ocean world is also used sometimes for astronomical bodies with an ocean composed of a different fluid or thalassogen, such as lava, ammonia or hydrocarbons. The study of extraterrestrial oceans is referred to as planetary oceanography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extraterrestrial atmosphere</span> Area of astronomical research

The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research, both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth's atmosphere. In addition to Earth, many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmospheres. These include all the gas giants, as well as Mars, Venus and Titan. Several moons and other bodies also have atmospheres, as do comets and the Sun. There is evidence that extrasolar planets can have an atmosphere. Comparisons of these atmospheres to one another and to Earth's atmosphere broaden our basic understanding of atmospheric processes such as the greenhouse effect, aerosol and cloud physics, and atmospheric chemistry and dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism on Venus</span> Overview of volcanic activity on the planet Venus

The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a pressure that is 90 times that of Earth's atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth analog</span> Planet with environment similar to Earths

An Earth analog, also called an Earth analogue, Earth twin, or second Earth, is a planet or moon with environmental conditions similar to those found on Earth. The term Earth-like planet is also used, but this term may refer to any terrestrial planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gliese 581g</span> Former candidate super-Earth orbiting Gliese 581

Gliese 581g was a candidate exoplanet postulated to orbit within the Gliese 581 system, twenty light-years from Earth. It was discovered by the Lick–Carnegie Exoplanet Survey, and was the sixth planet claimed to orbit the star; however, its existence could not be confirmed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) / High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) survey team, and was ultimately refuted. It was thought to be near the middle of the habitable zone of its star, meaning it could sustain liquid water—a necessity for all known life—on its surface, if there are favorable atmospheric conditions on the planet.

Planetary oceanography, also called astro-oceanography or exo-oceanography, is the study of oceans on planets and moons other than Earth. Unlike other planetary sciences like astrobiology, astrochemistry, and planetary geology, it only began after the discovery of underground oceans in Saturn's moon Titan and Jupiter's moon Europa. This field remains speculative until further missions reach the oceans beneath the rock or ice layer of the moons. There are many theories about oceans or even ocean worlds of celestial bodies in the Solar System, from oceans made of diamond in Neptune to a gigantic ocean of liquid hydrogen that may exist underneath Jupiter's surface.

Victoria Suzanne Meadows is a Professor with the Astronomy Department and Director of the Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington. She is also the Principal Investigator for the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Virtual Planetary Laboratory Lead Team and the chair of the NAI Focus Group on Habitability and Astronomical Biosignatures (HAB). The research direction of the team is to create computer models that can be used to understand planet formation, stability and orbital evolution, and to simulate the environment and spectra of planets that can potentially be habitable.

The Virtual Planetary Laboratory (VPL) is a virtual institute based at the University of Washington that studies how to detect exoplanetary habitability and their potential biosignatures. First formed in 2001, the VPL is part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) and connects more than fifty researchers at twenty institutions together in an interdisciplinary effort. VPL is also part of the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) network, with principal investigator Victoria Meadows leading the NExSS VPL team.

<i>DAVINCI</i> Planned late-2020s Venus atmospheric probe

DAVINCI is a planned mission for an orbiter and atmospheric probe to the planet Venus. Together with the separate VERITAS mission, which will also study Venus, it was selected by NASA on 2 June 2021 to be part of their Discovery Program. Its acronym is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci in honor of his scientific innovations, aerial sketches and constructions.

CubeSat UV Experiment (CUVE) is a space mission concept to study the atmospheric processes of the planet Venus with a small satellite. Specifically, the orbiter mission would study an enigmatic ultraviolet light absorber of unknown composition situated within the planet's uppermost cloud layer that absorbs about half the solar radiation downwelling in the planet's atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planetary habitability in the Solar System</span> Habitability of the celestial bodies of the Solar System

Planetary habitability in the Solar System is the study that searches the possible existence of past or present extraterrestrial life in those celestial bodies. As exoplanets are too far away and can only be studied by indirect means, the celestial bodies in the Solar System allow for a much more detailed study: direct telescope observation, space probes, rovers and even human spaceflight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venus Life Finder</span> Planned 2020s private Venus astrobiology probe

Venus Life Finder is a planned uncrewed spacecraft to Venus designed to detect signs of life in the Venusian atmosphere. The first private Venus mission, the spacecraft is being developed by Rocket Lab in collaboration with a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The spacecraft will consist of a high energy Photon cruise stage which will send a small atmospheric probe into Venus with a single instrument, an autofluorescing nephelometer, to search for organic compounds within Venus' atmosphere.

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Stuart (26 September 2003). "Acidic clouds of Venus could harbour life". New Scientist. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Redfern, Martin (25 May 2004). "Venus clouds 'might harbour life'". BBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 Dartnell, Lewis R.; Nordheim, Tom Andre; Patel, Manish R.; Mason, Jonathon P.; et al. (September 2015). "Constraints on a potential aerial biosphere on Venus: I. Cosmic rays". Icarus. 257: 396–405. Bibcode:2015Icar..257..396D. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.05.006.
  4. 1 2 Drake, Nadia (14 September 2020). "Possible sign of life on Venus stirs up heated debate". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  5. 1 2 Greaves, Jane S.; et al. (14 September 2020). "Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus". Nature Astronomy . 5 (7): 655–664. arXiv: 2009.06593 . Bibcode:2021NatAs...5..655G. doi: 10.1038/s41550-020-1174-4 .
  6. 1 2 Stirone, Shannon; Chang, Kenneth; Overbye, Dennis (14 September 2020). "Life on Venus? Astronomers See a Signal in Its Clouds - The detection of a gas in the planet's atmosphere could turn scientists' gaze to a planet long overlooked in the search for extraterrestrial life". The New York Times . Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Plait, Phil (26 October 2020). "Update: Life Above Hell? Serious Doubt Cast on Venus Phosphine Finding" . Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Purported phosphine on Venus more likely to be ordinary sulfur dioxide". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Chang, Kenneth; Stirone, Shannon (8 February 2021). "Life on Venus? The Picture Gets Cloudier - Despite doubts from many scientists, a team of researchers who said they had detected an unusual gas in the planet's atmosphere were still confident of their findings". The New York Times . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (2 June 2021). "New NASA Missions Will Study Venus, a World Overlooked for Decades - One of the spacecraft will probe the hellish planet's clouds, which could potentially help settle the debate over whether they are habitable by floating microbes". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  11. ↑ Proctor, Richard A., Other Worlds Than Ours: The Plurality of Worlds Studied Under the Light of Recent Scientific Researches. New York : J.A. Hill and Co., 1870. s. 94.
  12. ↑ Mayer, C. H.; McCollough, T. P.; Sloanaker, R. M. (1958). "Observations of Venus at 3.15-CM Wave Length". Astrophysical Journal. 127: 1–9. Bibcode:1958ApJ...127....1M. doi: 10.1086/146433 .
  13. ↑ Kuz'min, A. D.; Marov, M. Y. (1 June 1975). "Fizika Planety Venera" [Physics of the Planet Venus]. "Nauka" Press. p. 46. Retrieved 19 September 2020. The lack of evidence that the Venusian atmosphere is transparent at 3 cm wavelength range, the difficulty of explaining such a high surface temperature, and a much lower brightness temperature measured by Kuz'min and Salmonovich [80, 81] and Gibson [310] at a shorter wavelength of 8 mm all provided a basis for a different interpretation of the radio astronomy measurement results offered by Jones [366].
  14. ↑ Administrator, NASA Content (6 March 2015). "Mariner 2". NASA.
  15. ↑ "Venus Air Pressure". NASA/JPL.
  16. ↑ "Venus Fact Sheet". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  17. ↑ "Venera 9's landing site". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  18. ↑ Bruce Dorminey, "Venus Likely Had Past Life; Next Step Is Finding It", Forbes, 28 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Was Venus once a habitable planet?". European Space Agency. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Nancy Atkinson (24 June 2010). "Was Venus once a waterworld?". Universe Today . Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  21. ↑ Henry Bortman (26 August 2004). "Was Venus Alive? 'The Signs are Probably There'". Space.com . Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable". NASA.gov. NASA. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  23. ↑ Michael J. Way (2 August 2016). "Was Venus the First Habitable World of our Solar System?'". Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (16): 8376–8383. arXiv: 1608.00706 . Bibcode:2016GeoRL..43.8376W. doi:10.1002/2016GL069790. PMC   5385710 . PMID   28408771.
  24. ↑ "Venus May Have Been Habitable for Three Billion Years | Planetary Science | Sci-News.com". Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  25. ↑ "Did the Early Venus Harbor Life? (Weekend Feature)". The Daily Galaxy. 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  26. 1 2 Morowitz, Harold (2011). "Life on Venus". Astrobiology. 11 (9): 931–932. Bibcode:2011AsBio..11..931M. doi:10.1089/ast.2011.9270. PMID   22059693.
  27. 1 2 David Shiga (10 October 2007). "Did Venus's ancient oceans incubate life?". New Scientist . Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  28. ↑ Strom, Robert G.; Schaber, Gerald G.; Dawson, Douglas D. (25 May 1994). "The global resurfacing of Venus". Journal of Geophysical Research . 99 (E5): 10899–10926. Bibcode:1994JGR....9910899S. doi:10.1029/94JE00388.
  29. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (26 October 2023). "Billions of Years Ago, Venus May Have Had a Key Earthlike Feature - A new study makes the case that the solar system's hellish second planet once may have had plate tectonics that could have made it more hospitable to life". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  30. ↑ Weller, Matthew B.; et al. (26 October 2023). "Venus's atmospheric nitrogen explained by ancient plate tectonics". Nature Astronomy . doi:10.1038/s41550-023-02102-w. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  31. ↑ Cartwright, Annabel (2016). "The Venus Hypothesis". arXiv: 1608.03074 [astro-ph.EP].
  32. ↑ "Venus was potentially habitable until a mysterious event happened". CNN. 20 September 2019.
  33. ↑ "Venus isn't habitable -- and it could be all Jupiter's fault". CNN. 1 October 2020.
  34. ↑ Venus as a Natural Laboratory for Search of Life in High Temperature Conditions: Events on the Planet on March 1, 1982 Archived 7 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine , L. V. Ksanfomality, published in Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2012 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine .
  35. 1 2 Landis, Geoffrey A. (2003). "Astrobiology: the Case for Venus" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 56 (7/8): 250–254. Bibcode:2003JBIS...56..250L. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2011.
  36. ↑ Fritz Haber (October 1950). "Epitome of Space Medicine". Defense Technical Information Center.
  37. ↑ David Harry Grinspoon (1997). Venus Revealed: A New Look Below the Clouds of Our Mysterious Twin Planet. Addison-Wesley Pub. ISBN   978-0-201-40655-9.
  38. ↑ Seinfeld, J. (2006). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. London: J. Wiley. ISBN   978-1-60119-595-1.
  39. ↑ "Venus Express: Acid clouds and lightning". European Space Agency (ESA). Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  40. 1 2 Mogul, Rakesh; Limaye, Sanjay S.; Way, M. J.; Cordova, Jr, Jamie A. (2020), Is Phosphine in the Mass Spectra from Venus' Clouds?, arXiv: 2009.12758 , doi:10.1002/essoar.10504552.4, S2CID   231854943
  41. ↑ David, Leonard (11 February 2003). "Life Zone on Venus Possible". Space.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  42. ↑ Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Grinspoon, David H.; Abbas, Ousama; Irwin, Louis N.; Bullock, Mark A. (March 2004). "A Sulfur-Based Survival Strategy for Putative Phototrophic Life in the Venusian Atmosphere". Astrobiology. 4 (1): 11–18. Bibcode:2004AsBio...4...11S. doi:10.1089/153110704773600203. PMID   15104900.
  43. ↑ Mogul, Rakesh; Limaye, Sanjay S.; Lee, Yeon Joo; Pasillas, Michael (1 October 2021). "Potential for Phototrophy in Venus' Clouds". Astrobiology. 21 (10): 1237–1249. Bibcode:2021AsBio..21.1237M. doi: 10.1089/ast.2021.0032 . ISSN   1531-1074. PMID   34569810. S2CID   237944209.
  44. ↑ Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Irwin, Louis N. (5 July 2004). "Reassessing the Possibility of Life on Venus: Proposal for an Astrobiology Mission". Astrobiology. 2 (2): 197–202. Bibcode:2002AsBio...2..197S. doi:10.1089/15311070260192264. PMID   12469368.
  45. ↑ "Could Dark Streaks in Venus' Clouds Be Microbial Life?". astrobiology.nasa.gov. 1 February 2017.
  46. ↑ Erica Naone (29 August 2019). "Mysterious dark patches in Venus' clouds are affecting the weather there". astronomy.com.
  47. ↑ Anderson, Paul (3 September 2019). "Could microbes be affecting Venus' climate? – Unusual dark patches in Venus' atmosphere – called "unknown absorbers" – play a key role in the planet's climate and albedo, according to a new study. But what are they? That's still a mystery". Earth & Sky . Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  48. ↑ Lee, Yeon Joo; et al. (26 August 2019). "Long-term Variations of Venus's 365 nm Albedo Observed by Venus Express, Akatsuki, MESSENGER, and the Hubble Space Telescope". The Astronomical Journal . 158 (3): 126–152. arXiv: 1907.09683 . Bibcode:2019AJ....158..126L. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab3120 . S2CID   198179774.
  49. ↑ Hall, Sannon (9 January 2020). "Volcanoes on Venus Might Still Be Smoking - Planetary science experiments on Earth suggest that the sun's second planet might have ongoing volcanic activity". The New York Times . Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  50. ↑ Filiberto, Justin (3 January 2020). "Present-day volcanism on Venus as evidenced from weathering rates of olivine". Science . 6 (1): eaax7445. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.7445F. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax7445 . PMC   6941908 . PMID   31922004.
  51. ↑ Limaye, Sanjay S. (12 September 2018). "Venus' Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds". Astrobiology . 18 (9): 1181–1198. Bibcode:2018AsBio..18.1181L. doi:10.1089/ast.2017.1783. PMC   6150942 . PMID   29600875.
  52. 1 2 3 Spacek, Jan (2021), Organic Carbon Cycle in the Atmosphere of Venus, arXiv: 2108.02286
  53. 1 2 Snellen, I. A. G.; Guzman-Ramirez, L.; Hogerheijde, M. R.; Hygate, A. P. S.; van der Tak, F. F. S. (2020), "Re-analysis of the 267-GHz ALMA observations of Venus No statistically significant detection of phosphine", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 644: L2, arXiv: 2010.09761 , Bibcode:2020A&A...644L...2S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039717, S2CID   224803085
  54. 1 2 Thompson, M. A. (2021), "The statistical reliability of 267 GHz JCMT observations of Venus: No significant evidence for phosphine absorption", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 501 (1): L18–L22, arXiv: 2010.15188 , Bibcode:2021MNRAS.501L..18T, doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slaa187, S2CID   225103303
  55. 1 2 Villanueva, Geronimo; Cordiner, Martin; Irwin, Patrick; Imke de Pater; Butler, Bryan; Gurwell, Mark; Milam, Stefanie; Nixon, Conor; Luszcz-Cook, Statia; Wilson, Colin; Kofman, Vincent; Liuzzi, Giuliano; Faggi, Sara; Fauchez, Thomas; Lippi, Manuela; Cosentino, Richard; Thelen, Alexander; Moullet, Arielle; Hartogh, Paul; Molter, Edward; Charnley, Steve; Arney, Giada; Mandell, Avi; Biver, Nicolas; Vandaele, Ann; Katherine de Kleer; Kopparapu, Ravi (2021), "No evidence of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus from independent analyses", Nature Astronomy, 5 (7): 631–635, arXiv: 2010.14305 , Bibcode:2021NatAs...5..631V, doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01422-z, S2CID   236090264
  56. 1 2 Cordiner, M. A.; Villanueva, G. L.; Wiesemeyer, H.; Milam, S. N.; De Pater, I.; Moullet, A.; Aladro, R.; Nixon, C. A.; Thelen, A. E.; Charnley, S. B.; Stutzki, J.; Kofman, V.; Faggi, S.; Liuzzi, G.; Cosentino, R.; McGuire, B. A. (2022), "Phosphine in the Venusian Atmosphere: A Strict Upper Limit from SOFIA GREAT Observations", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (22), arXiv: 2210.13519 , Bibcode:2022GeoRL..4901055C, doi:10.1029/2022GL101055, S2CID   253086965
  57. ↑ Steller, Luke; Kranendonk, Martin Van (26 September 2020). "Experts Explain: If There Is Life on Venus, How Could It Have Got There?". SciTechDaily.com. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  58. ↑ Cimone, Matthew (20 September 2020). "How Much Life Would Be Required to Create the Phosphine Signal on Venus?". Universe Today . Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  59. ↑ Lingam, Manasvi; Loeb, Abraham (17 September 2020). "On The Biomass Required To Produce Phosphine Detected In The Cloud Decks Of Venus". arXiv: 2009.07835v1 [astro-ph.EP].
  60. ↑ Fletcher, LN; Orton, GS; Teanby, NA; Irwin, PGJ (2009). "Phosphine on Jupiter and Saturn from Cassini/CIRS". Icarus. 202 (2): 543–564. Bibcode:2009Icar..202..543F. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.03.023.
  61. ↑ Truong, Ngoc; Lunine, Jonathan I. (2020), Hypothesis Perspectives: Might active volcanisms today contribute to the presence of phosphine in Venus's atmosphere?, arXiv: 2009.11904v2
  62. ↑ Sousa-Silva, Clara; Seager, Sara; Ranjan, Sukrit; Petkowski, Janusz Jurand; Zhan, Zhuchang; Hu, Renyu; Bains, William (11 October 2019). "Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres". Astrobiology. 20 (2) (published February 2020): 235–268. arXiv: 1910.05224 . Bibcode:2020AsBio..20..235S. doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1954. PMID   31755740. S2CID   204401807.
  63. ↑ "Phosphine Could Signal Existence of Alien Anaerobic Life on Rocky Planets". Sci-News. 26 December 2019.
  64. ↑ Truong, Ngoc; Lunine, Jonathan I. (20 July 2021). "Volcanically extruded phosphides as an abiotic source of Venusian phosphine". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (29): e2021689118. Bibcode:2021PNAS..11821689T. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2021689118 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   8307446 . PMID   34253608.
  65. ↑ "Statement from Commission F3 (Astrobiology) of the IAU on Press Reports regarding Detection of Phosphine in Venus" (PDF). www.iau.org. International Astronomical Union - Commission F3 Astrobiology. 5 October 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2020.
  66. ↑ @Mike_Garrett (7 October 2020). "Absolutely shocked & dismayed by this statement from the @IAU_org - as a member of IAU Com F3, I completely disagree - this is how science progresses" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  67. ↑ @ExoCytherean (8 October 2020). "I'm also a member of F3 and I didn't even know about the letter until it was published this morning. How on Earth is the commission publishing statements that claim to represent its membership when they are not even consulted?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  68. ↑ Amitabh Sinha (8 October 2020). "Discovery that indicated possibility of extra-terrestrial life attacked by group of astrobiologists". indianexpress.com. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  69. 1 2 3 4 5 Greaves, Jane S.; Richards, Anita M. S.; Bains, William; Rimmer, Paul B.; Clements, David L.; Seager, Sara; Petkowski, Janusz J.; Sousa-Silva, Clara; Ranjan, Sukrit; Fraser, Helen J. (2021), "Reply to: No evidence of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus from independent analyses", Nature Astronomy, 5 (7): 636–639, arXiv: 2104.09285 , Bibcode:2021NatAs...5..636G, doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01424-x, S2CID   233296859
  70. ↑ Witze, Alexandra (17 November 2020). "Prospects for life on Venus fade — but aren't dead yet". Nature. 587 (7835): 532. Bibcode:2020Natur.587..532W. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03258-5. PMID   33208909. S2CID   227067294 . Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  71. ↑ Chan, Athena (18 November 2020). "Life On Venus: Phosphine Signals Actually Fainter As Scientists Re-Analyze Earlier Findings". International Business Times. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  72. 1 2 Voosen, Paul (17 November 2020). "Potential signs of life on Venus are fading as astronomers downgrade their original claims". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  73. ↑ Mogul, Rakesh; Limaye, Sanjay S.; Way, M. J.; Cordova, Jaime A. (14 April 2021). "Venus' Mass Spectra Show Signs of Disequilibria in the Middle Clouds". Geophysical Research Letters. 48 (7): e91327. arXiv: 2009.12758 . Bibcode:2021GeoRL..4891327M. doi:10.1029/2020GL091327. PMC   8244101 . PMID   34219837.
  74. ↑ Encrenaz, T.; Greathouse, T. K.; Marcq, E.; Widemann, T.; Bézard, B.; Fouchet, T.; Giles, R.; Sagawa, H.; Greaves, J.; Sousa-Silva, C. (2020), "A stringent upper limit of the PH3 abundance at the cloud top of Venus", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 643: L5, arXiv: 2010.07817 , Bibcode:2020A&A...643L...5E, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039559, S2CID   222377688
  75. 1 2 Greaves, Jane S.; Petkowski, Janusz J.; Richards, Anita M. S.; Sousa-Silva, Clara; Seager, Sara; Clements, David L. (2022), Recovery of Phosphine in Venus' Atmosphere from SOFIA Observations, arXiv: 2211.09852
  76. ↑ "ALMA science observations have re-started". alma-telescope.jp. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  77. ↑ Byrne, Paul (18 September 2020). "The detection of phosphine in Venus' clouds is a big deal – here's how we can find out if it's a sign of life". The Conversation. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  78. ↑ Brown, Katherine (13 February 2020). "NASA Selects 4 Possible Missions to Study Secrets of the Solar System". NASA. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  79. ↑ "NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study 'Lost Habitable' World of Venus". NASA. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  80. ↑ O'Callaghan, Jonathan (16 September 2020). "In A Complete Fluke, A European Spacecraft Is About To Fly Past Venus – And Could Look For Signs Of Life". Forbes. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  81. ↑ "JCMT-Venus – monitoring phosphine and other molecules in Venus's atmosphere – James Clerk Maxwell Telescope" . Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  82. ↑ Lincowski, Andrew P.; Meadows, Victoria S.; Crisp, David; Akins, Alex B.; Schwieterman, Edward W.; Arney, Giada N.; Wong, Michael L.; Steffes, Paul G.; Parenteau, M. Niki; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn (24 January 2021). "Claimed detection of PH3 in the clouds of Venus is consistent with mesospheric SO2". The Astrophysical Journal. 908 (2): L44. arXiv: 2101.09837 . Bibcode:2021ApJ...908L..44L. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/abde47 . S2CID   231699227.
  83. ↑ Greaves, Jane S.; Rimmer, Paul B.; Richards, Anita M. S.; Petkowski, Janusz J.; Bains, William; Ranjan, Sukrit; Seager, Sara; Clements, David L.; Clara Sousa Silva; Fraser, Helen J. (2022), "Low levels of sulphur dioxide contamination of Venusian phosphine spectra", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 514 (2): 2994–3001, arXiv: 2108.08393 , doi:10.1093/mnras/stac1438
  84. ↑ "Scientists say there's no life on Venus — but Jupiter has potential". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  85. ↑ Hallsworth, John E.; Koop, Thomas; Dallas, Tiffany D.; Zorzano, María-Paz; Burkhardt, Juergen; Golyshina, Olga V.; Martín-Torres, Javier; Dymond, Marcus K.; Ball, Philip; McKay, Christopher P. (28 June 2021). "Water activity in Venus's uninhabitable clouds and other planetary atmospheres". Nature Astronomy. 5 (7): 665–675. Bibcode:2021NatAs...5..665H. doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01391-3. hdl: 10261/261774 . ISSN   2397-3366. S2CID   237820246 . Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  86. ↑ Bains, William; Petkowski, Janusz J.; Rimmer, Paul B.; Seager, Sara (28 December 2021). "Production of ammonia makes Venusian clouds habitable and explains observed cloud-level chemical anomalies". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (52): e2110889118. arXiv: 2112.10850 . Bibcode:2021PNAS..11810889B. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2110889118 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   8719887 . PMID   34930842. S2CID   245353905.
  87. ↑ The Venusian Lower Atmosphere Haze as a Depot for Desiccated Microbial Life: A Proposed Life Cycle for Persistence of the Venusian Aerial Biosphere
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.