Life on Venus? Detection of phosphine gas in planet's upper atmosphere leaves astronomers puzzled

NEW DELHI: In an unexpected finding, astronomers have detected the presence of phosphine, a toxic gas associated with anaerobic life on Earth, in the clouds of Venus. The discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, has sparked a heated debate among scientists about the possibility of life existing in the harsh environment of Earth's sister planet.
Phosphine is a flammable, smelly gas that can be produced by some species of anaerobic bacteria living in oxygen-starved environments.
On Earth, it is also manufactured as a chemical weapon and used as an agricultural fumigant.
The detection of this gas in Venus' atmosphere is puzzling because the planet's chemistry should destroy phosphine before it can accumulate to the observed levels.
The research team, led by Jane Greaves from Cardiff University, used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii to observe Venus' clouds.
They found that phosphine is present in the upper atmosphere, at altitudes where the temperature is a comfortable 75°C (167°F) and the pressure is similar to Earth's surface. This region is within the acidic cloud deck, where some scientists speculate that chemicals could initiate forms of biological activity.
While the discovery is exciting, it is not conclusive proof of life on Venus. Some experts argue that the phosphine detection could be a false signal introduced by the telescopes or data processing. Others propose alternative explanations, such as unknown atmospheric or geological processes on Venus.
Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at MIT and a co-author of the study, emphasised that the team is "not claiming to have found life on Venus" but rather a "confident detection of phosphine gas whose existence is a mystery."
She hopes the findings will motivate future space missions to directly measure gases in Venus' atmosphere and provide more definitive answers.
The idea of life in Venus' clouds is not new. In the 1950s, German physicist Heinz Haber proposed the possibility of life at altitudes with mild temperatures.
More recently, scientists have speculated that any hypothetical microorganisms inhabiting the atmosphere could employ ultraviolet light emitted by the Sun as an energy source.
If confirmed, the discovery of phosphine in Venus' clouds would be a significant milestone in the search for extraterrestrial life. It would shift scientists' focus towards Venus, a planet long overlooked in the quest for habitable worlds beyond Earth.
However, further observations and potentially a dedicated mission to Venus are necessary to verify the presence of phosphine and investigate its origin.