Scientists have figuratively squeezed the life out of a hypothesis that indicates that biological species may be the home of Venus. Researchers reported in September to have found trace quantities of phosphine gas in the planet's acidic reservoirs.
Microorganisms that may not need oxygen to breathe when they're in Venus emits phosphine, scientists believe. However, researchers say in a recent report that it was not phosphine that was found, but the 'usual' sulfur dioxide.
The group discovered that the original observation originated not from the hellish planet's cloud layer. But experts blamed the misunderstanding on a radio telescope's miscalibration in the planet's upper atmosphere, where compounds can be lost within seconds.
Previous Studies, Questionable
Phosphine, a colorless gas that smells like rotting fish, is naturally formed on the planet, mostly by certain microorganisms that do not depend on oxygen.
During the biodegradation process or synthesized in chemical plants, limited quantities may also be released.
In the September 2020 edition of the journal Nature Astronomy, a team headed by Cardiff University astronomer Jane Greaves first recorded finding phosphine in the clouds above Venus.
The research was reported by news outlets as one of the great scientific achievements of 2020. Still, there have been concerns about the results since its publication.
Other scientists reported that the same signal could not be detected, and members of the Greaves team confessed to a calibration mistake and downgraded the weight of their arguments.
Clara Sousa-Silva, an astrochemist from Harvard and one of Greaves' co-authors, says there is a lot of confusion about what's floating above Venus.
Sousa-Silva told The Atlantic in November that they disagreed about how much signal there is in various areas. They also disagreed with who makes the signal as high as it is, and how.
These appear to be massive conflicts, but they fall down to teeny, tiny decisions and processes for data processing.'
Are Scientists Now Sure That It's Sulfur Dioxide?
Researchers at Washington University are now claiming that they have come to the final answer: gas is not phosphine. It is sulfur dioxide.
Victoria Meadows, an astronomy professor at Washington University who is the study co-author, said per Express.co.uk that sulfur dioxide is the third most abundant chemical compound in the atmosphere of Venus. She added the chemical is not considered a sign of existence.
The study simulated phosphine and sulfur dioxide signals at various depths of the atmosphere of Venus using evidence from many decades' worth of planetary observations.
The team also studied how radio telescopes such as Hawaii's James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and Chile's Atacama Broad Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) would pick up those signals.
University of Washington's latest discovery maintains that not only can sulfur dioxide clarify what the new study found. But it is more compatible with what is understood regarding the extreme upper atmosphere of Venus, which contains sulfuric acid clouds.
They inferred that, according to studies reported in The Astrophysical Journal, the signs are more associated with sulfur dioxide.
Meadows said results are compatible with the alternate hypothesis. The team found sulfur dioxide instead of phosphine in the Venus clouds. In comparison, the current report notes that too far up in the Venusian atmosphere was the previous analysis subject.
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