Is there Life in the Clouds of Venus?
In September of 2020, a team of astronomers here in the UK declared to the world that there may be life in the clouds of Venus. I know, that sounds ridiculous! And yet, despite the best efforts of many highly respected scientists… no one can disprove their hypothesis.
So how could there possibly be life on Venus? I mean, look at the conditions for a start. The surface temperature is around 470 degrees Celsius (depending on where you look), it’s got an atmospheric pressure 92 times greater than on Earth, the atmosphere is made of mostly carbon dioxide, and these so called “clouds” are primarily composed of sulphuric acid! If you ask me, it sounds like a pretty grim place to call home.
Phosphine
Well, it’s all down to a compound called phosphine. This gas is composed of 3 hydrogen atoms and 1 phosphorus atom. The thing about this compound is that it’s really hard to make. It’s generally claimed that there are 3 places in which phosphine can be produced, two of which are on Earth. The first is in industrial processes, and the second is from anaerobic bacteria. These microbes can be found in sewers and in our gut. In other words, they’re strongly associated with faeces. In this way, it is said that the presence of phosphine can often be interpreted as a bio-signature (the presence of life). The third way phosphine is produced is in high-pressure, hydrogen-rich environments such as the depths of Saturn and Jupiter.
Observations of Venus’ clouds
Spectral analysis is a process whereby we can analyse the light emitted from a source, thus detecting which wavelengths are present. When we send photons pass through a gas, if they have a specific, discrete wavelength they can be absorbed by the electrons of the atoms that make up the gas. Then, when we analyse which wavelengths are missing from the light, we can work out which atoms the light has passed through. This process is exactly what the team did with the clouds of Venus. What they found, was that the missing wavelengths corresponded to the presence of phosphine.
So why is this strange?
It’s strange because there shouldn’t be any phosphine on Venus. As explained previously, there are 3 ways of producing this gas. We know the conditions aren’t extreme enough for natural formation (like on Saturn and Jupiter), and there certainly aren’t any industrial processes going on there. So, the only other option is life! It seems laughable to claim that life exists on a hot toxic planet such as Venus, but we can’t yet disprove the claim. Furthermore, the clouds of Venus are actually much more suitable for life than the surface. And interestingly, the location the phosphine was detected is the same location that has, in the past, been claimed to have conditions that are potentially viable enough to support life. However, if it does exist, it must be able to thrive in an environment rich with sulphuric acid, meaning it can’t be anything like us humans. My apologies to anyone who was wishing to have humanoid aliens next door to us!
Originally published at http://thephysicsfootprint.com on January 23, 2022.
