Venusian phosphine: a 'wow!' signal in chemistry?

被引：12

作者：

Bains, William ^{[1
,2
]}

Petkowski, Janusz J. ^{[1
]}

Seager, Sara ^{[1
,3
,4
]}

Ranjan, Sukrit ^{[5
,6
,7
]}

Sousa-Silva, Clara ^{[8
]}

Rimmer, Paul B. ^{[9
,10
,11
]}

Zhan, Zhuchang ^{[1
]}

Greaves, Jane S. ^{[2
]}

Richards, Anita M. S. ^{[12
]}

机构：

[1] MIT, Dept Earth Atmospher & Planetary Sci, 77 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

[2] Cardiff Univ, Sch Phys & Astron, Cardiff, Wales

[3] MIT, Dept Phys, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

[4] MIT, Dept Aeronaut & Astronaut, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

[5] Northwestern Univ, Ctr Interdisciplinary Explorat & Res Astrophys, Evanston, IL USA

[6] Northwestern Univ, Dept Astron & Astrophys, Evanston, IL USA

[7] Blue Marble Space Inst Sci, Seattle, WA USA

[8] Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[9] Univ Cambridge, Dept Earth Sci, Cambridge, England

[10] Univ Cambridge, Cavendish Lab, Cambridge, England

[11] MRC Lab Mol Biol, Cambridge, England

[12] Univ Manchester, Jodrell Bank Ctr Astrophys, Dept Phys & Astron, Manchester, Lancs, England

来源：

PHOSPHORUS SULFUR AND SILICON AND THE RELATED ELEMENTS | 2022年 / 197卷 / 5-6期

关键词：

Phosphine; Venus; thermodynamics; photochemistry; biosignature gas; life; NO EVIDENCE; ATMOSPHERE;

D O I：

10.1080/10426507.2021.1998051

中图分类号：

O61 [无机化学];

学科分类号：

070301 ; 081704 ;

摘要：

The potential detection of ppb levels phosphine (PH3) in the clouds of Venus through millimeter-wavelength astronomical observations is extremely surprising as PH3 is an unexpected component of an oxidized environment of Venus. A thorough analysis of potential sources suggests that no known process in the consensus model of Venus' atmosphere or geology could produce PH3 at anywhere near the observed abundance. Therefore, if the presence of PH3 in Venus' atmosphere is confirmed, it is highly likely to be the result of a process not previously considered plausible for Venusian conditions. The source of atmospheric PH3 could be unknown geo- or photochemistry, which would imply that the consensus on Venus' chemistry is significantly incomplete. An even more extreme possibility is that strictly aerial microbial biosphere produces PH3. This paper summarizes the Venusian PH3 discovery and the scientific debate that arose since the original candidate detection one year ago.

引用

页码：438 / 443

页数：6

共 44 条

[1] Complications in the ALMA Detection of Phosphine at Venus [J].