Scientists have revealed that there might be life on the planet Venus. The revelation comes after astronomers discovered the presence of phosphine gas on the planet, a gas that is usually created by living life forms.
The paper was published in the Nature Astronomy journal and is one of the most exciting discoveries regarding our planetary neighbours in some time. Should life actually be found on Venus, it would no doubt be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, discovery in modern scientific history.
The gas, which was detected by telescopic spectral observation, is floating at around 50km above the surface of Venus. Certainly, up until now the scientific consensus was that Venus was far too inhospitable for any form of life to survive. The atmosphere is almost 97% carbon dioxide and surface temperatures run at 462 °C (864 °F). There is also crushing pressure and clouds made of sulfuric acid. Hardly the most inviting place for life to flourish.
However, life on Earth has managed to thrive in even the most extreme conditions, from the black depths of the ocean to inside furnace like breaks in the Earth's crust. If life has managed to survive these conditions, then it is at least feasible that life could survive on Venus. Though, if life was discovered, it would almost certainly be in the form of tiny creatures or a form of bacteria, no one is suggesting intelligent life will be found.
While many are optimistic about finding life, others including the authors of the report, do sound a note of caution.
Prof. Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, who led the research, stated:
"Through my whole career I have been interested in the search for life elsewhere in the Universe, so I'm just blown away that this is even possible. But, yes, we are genuinely encouraging other people to tell us what we might have missed. Our paper and data are open access; this is how science works."
Another word of caution came from Oxford University's Dr. Colin Wilson:
"It's really exciting and will lead to new discoveries - even if the original phosphine detection were to turn out to be a spectroscopic misinterpretation, which I don't think it will. I think that life in Venus' clouds today is so unlikely that we'll find other chemical pathways of creating phosphine in the atmosphere - but we'll discover lots of interesting things about Venus in this search."
In 1966 a Soviet space-probe Venera 3 crash landed on the planet's surface. Since then, a number of spacecraft have explored the planet, including its thick atmosphere. None have previously observed any signs of life.
Venus is the brightest planet in the night sky and is visible with the naked eye, often being mistaken for a bright star.
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