{"id":20826,"date":"2022-11-30T15:21:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T14:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=131620"},"modified":"2022-11-30T16:12:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T15:12:07","slug":"venus-nasa-study-is-a-blow-for-those-looking-for-alien-life-on-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/venus-nasa-study-is-a-blow-for-those-looking-for-alien-life-on-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus: NASA study is a blow for those looking for alien life on the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jason Goodyer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 30 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Back in 2020, astronomers searching for extra-terrestrial life got excited when Japan\u2019s Venus-orbiting satellite Akatsuki detected phosphine in the planet\u2019s atmosphere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This was significant as the compound is considered to be a potential sign of life. It is unlikely to arise from chemical processes that occur on rocky worlds such as Venus but it is known to be produced by microbial organisms in bogs, swamps, and marshes on Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhosphine is a relatively simple chemical compound \u2014 it\u2019s just a phosphorus atom with three hydrogens \u2014 so you would think that would be fairly easy to produce. But on Venus, it\u2019s not obvious how it could be made,\u201d said Dr Martin Cordiner<\/a>, a researcher in astrochemistry and planetary science at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.<\/p>\n

Now, an analysis of data collected by NASA\u2019s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has turned up no evidence of phosphine in Venus\u2019s whatsoever, suggesting the Akatsuki study was flawed.<\/p>\n

SOFIA was a telescope mounted on a Boeing 474 that was recently retired from service. It was positioned in orbit around 13,000m from the Earth\u2019s surface in the stratosphere, putting it above 99 per cent of the atmosphere\u2019s infrared-blocking effects. This allowed astronomers to study the Solar System in ways not possible with ground-based telescopes.<\/p>\n

The data analysed in the study were collected during observations of Venus\u2019s atmosphere over the course of three flights carried out in November 2021. SOFIA\u2019s telescope\u2019s high resolution enabled it to scan for traces of phosphine around 75 to 110km above the entirety of the planet\u2019s surface \u2013 the same region as the original 2020 finding. However, no sign of the compound was found.<\/p>\n

The findings complement data taken from other experiments carried out since 2020 that all point to phosphine not existing anywhere in Venus\u2019s atmosphere, from the equator to the poles.<\/p>\n