In Venus’ atmosphere, sulfur dioxide, not phosphine: life potential fades

It was released in September last year A study “Exciting”! In the atmosphere of Venere There would have been such a size Phosphine (Considered a Biopharma) To think about the active life forms on the planet. The attention of researchers and enthusiasts was so high that it was a question of finding other life forms in the solar system. Now, a new study will avoid that finding by talking about phosphine Sulfur dioxide.

From phosphine to sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus

This study was carried outUniversity of Washington It will be published in the journal Astronomy soon when it is now available Front axle. These are not new observations, but new analyzes of data that British researchers initially relied on.

According to the co-author of the new study, Victoria Meadows, “Instead of phosphine in Venus ‘clouds, the data conform to an alternative hypothesis: they detected sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is the third most common chemical compound in Venus’ atmosphere, which is not considered a sign of life.”.

After the data has been reviewed, it is pointed out that the affected area is larger than that location Phosphine (Ph.D.₃) FurtherSulfur dioxide (So.₂) Is more reliable as a molecule than the atmosphere Venere. In those layers of the atmosphere, phosphine is also destroyed after a few seconds.

New methods of analysis and new results

In the new study it was decided to create a model of the indoor atmosphere Venere. In more detail, the signals of the two Phosphine ThanSulfur dioxide At different rates as expressed by JCMT and ALMA. According to this discovery, the signal came from an altitude of about 100 km in the mesosphere. In that range, ultraviolet rays do not destroy phosphine at any time.

With such a rapid time of molecular destruction, the state of production Phosphine His Venere This should be 100 times more than the amount of oxygen produced on Earth by photosynthesis. A decisively high and considerably unsustainable speed. Furthermore, Alma significantly underestimated the amount of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere due to the antenna configuration. “Spectral line dilution”.

Researcher Alex Akins Added (from JPL) “Low SO guessed detection₂ Due to the artificially weak signal from the alma mater. But in our model, the alma data are still similar to conventional or large-scale Venus sulfur dioxide, which may explain the observed JCMT signal. “. Again they expect additional resources, but it seems like life Venere Is less than expected.