Astrobiological Potential of Venus Atmosphere Chemical Anomalies and Other Unexplained Cloud Properties

2024/01/09 by Janusz J. Petkowski, Sara Seager, David H. Grinspoon +7 · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.EP

paper · pdf · doi:10.1089/ast.2022.0060

Abstract

Long-standing unexplained Venus atmosphere observations and chemical anomalies point to unknown chemistry but also leave room for the possibility of life. The unexplained observations include several gases out of thermodynamic equilibrium (e.g. tens of ppm O2, the possible presence of PH3 and NH3, SO2 and H2O vertical abundance profiles), an unknown composition of large, lower cloud particles, and the "unknown absorber(s)". Here we first review relevant properties of the Venus atmosphere and then describe the atmospheric chemical anomalies and how they motivate future astrobiology missions to Venus.

Discussions

• Interesting new paper (preprint) from January 9, 2024 that details 13 different anomalies in Venus' atmosphere that could potentially be evidence for microscopic life in the planet's clouds. The repor [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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