Scientists Found Life Harbouring Gas on Venus

Recently, a team of experts while observing the Venus found that the atmosphere of Venus contains traces of phosphine gas. Phosphine gas is associated with the living organisms which on Earth. The team used telescopes in Hawaii and Chile’s Atacama Desert in order to observe upper cloud deck of Venus which is around 60 km from the surface.

Conditions on Venus

• Temperature conditions on Venus is described as hellish.
• The daytime temperatures can even melt lead.
• The atmosphere is composed entirely of carbon dioxide (almost 96%)
• Clouds of sulfuric acid droplets are present.

Though the team detected traces of phosphine. But they have also stated that the presence of phosphine alone does not prove the presence of life on Venus.

Venus

• Venus is named after the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty known as Aphrodite to the Ancient Greeks.
• It rotates from east to west.
• Venus has no rings.
• It has no moons or satellites of its own.
• It is called morning or an evening star.
• It takes 5,832 hours to complete a rotation.
• Venus orbit around the Sun every 224.7 Earth days.
• It is a terrestrial planet.
• Referred as Earth’s “sister planet” because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun
• Atmosphere of Venus is extremely enriched of primordial noble gases.
• Venus covers Earth every 584 days as it orbits around the Sun.

Phosphine

Phosphine is the compound. PH₃ is its chemical formula. Phosphine is a colorless, flammable and a toxic gas. Also, it is odorless in its pure form. However, technically, it is having a highly unpleasant odor like garlic or rotting fish. The compound is also a constituent of the Earth’s atmosphere in a low amount.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020