WASHINGTON — Scientists said that they have detected in the harshly acidic clouds of Venus a gas called phosphine that indicates microbes may inhabit Earth’s inhospitable neighbor, a sign of potential life beyond Earth.
The researchers did not discover actual life forms, but stated that phosphine is produced by bacteria thriving in oxygen-starved environments. The international scientific team first spotted the phosphine using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and confirmed it using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array radio telescope in Chile.
The existence of extraterrestrial life long has been one of the major questions of science. Scientists have used probes and telescopes to seek “biosignatures”, indirect signs of life, on other planets and moons in our solar system and beyond. Phosphine was seen at 20 parts-per-billion in the Venusian atmosphere, a trace concentration. Researchers examined potential non-biological sources such as volcanism, meteorites, lightning and various types of chemical reactions, but none appeared viable. The research continues to either confirm the presence of life or find an alternative explanation.
Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. Similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun. Earth is the third. Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps in heat. Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt lead.
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