Alien life on Venus? Scientists spot intriguing molecule phosphine in planet’s clouds again

In a twist to the saga of whether there is the possibility of life on Venus, Jane Greaves, who has been leading a team of scientists at Cardiff University in Wales, revealed that they have discovered the presence of phosphine the atmosphere of the planet, deeper than where they had spotted it before.

Greaves made the statement while speaking at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting 2023 in Cardiff this week. In September 2020, his team of scientists had reported the detection of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, which can be a possible indicator of life.

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Greaves and her colleagues, with the use of the James Clark Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, delved deeper into the planet's atmosphere, down to the top and even the middle of the clouds present on Venus.

The team believed that phosphine could be emerging from the lower level of the atmosphere on the planet. Greaves said that microorganisms that live in a very low-oxygen environment on Earth generate phosphine.

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‘When all hell broke loose’ after hint of life on Venus

She stated that phosphine is not created through any other process on our planet, because of their lack of abundance of "loose" hydrogen on Earth. This theory suggests that the presence of phosphine in other worlds is a potential biosignature.

This is the reason why the discovery of phosphine on Venus caused a stir three years ago. However, just the presence of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus doesn't necessarily mean that the planet is hosting life.

"There’s a big school of thought that you can make phosphine by lobbing phosphorus-bearing rocks up into the high atmosphere and kind of eroding them with water and acid and stuff and getting phosphine gas," said Greaves, during the meeting.

The scientist talked about how the search for phosphine was prompted in the atmosphere of Venus and how that led to the first hint of life on the planet.

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She stated that the decision of investigating Venus was taken after a study of other planets like Saturn and improved telescope technology made way for the probing of the atmospheres of smaller planets.

"I vaguely remembered Venus is supposed to have this potential habitat in the high clouds, which is anaerobic, and we eventually got telescope time, so I thought, 'Why don’t we have a very quick look and see if there are some phosphates in Venus clouds, an analogue to things living on the surface of the Earth?'" said Greaves, adding, "Astonishingly, we found it, and all hell broke loose!"

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