Astrobiological Potential of Venus Atmosphere Chemical Anomalies and Other Unexplained Cloud Properties

Janusz J Petkowski; Sara Seager; David H Grinspoon; William Bains; Sukrit Ranjan; Paul B Rimmer; Weston P Buchanan; Rachana Agrawal; Rakesh Mogul; Christopher E Carr

doi:10.1089/ast.2022.0060

Astrobiological Potential of Venus Atmosphere Chemical Anomalies and Other Unexplained Cloud Properties

Astrobiology. 2024 Apr;24(4):343-370. doi: 10.1089/ast.2022.0060. Epub 2024 Mar 7.

Authors

Janusz J Petkowski^{1

2

3}, Sara Seager^{1

4

5}, David H Grinspoon⁶, William Bains^{1

7}, Sukrit Ranjan⁸, Paul B Rimmer^{9

10

11}, Weston P Buchanan^{1

12}, Rachana Agrawal¹, Rakesh Mogul¹³, Christopher E Carr¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
² Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland.
³ JJ Scientific, Mazowieckie, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
⁷ School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
⁸ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
⁹ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.
¹² School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
¹³ California Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA.
¹⁴ School of Aerospace Engineering and School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

PMID: 38452176
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2022.0060

Abstract

Long-standing unexplained Venus atmosphere observations and chemical anomalies point to unknown chemistry but also leave room for the possibility of life. The unexplained observations include several gases out of thermodynamic equilibrium (e.g., tens of ppm O₂, the possible presence of PH₃ and NH₃, SO₂ and H₂O vertical abundance profiles), an unknown composition of large, lower cloud particles, and the "unknown absorber(s)." Here we first review relevant properties of the venusian atmosphere and then describe the atmospheric chemical anomalies and how they motivate future astrobiology missions to Venus.

Keywords: Acidity; Atmospheric chemistry; Atmospheric gases. Astrobiology 24, 343–370; Habitability; Venusian clouds.

MeSH terms

Atmosphere / chemistry
Exobiology
Extraterrestrial Environment
Gases / chemistry
Venus*

Substances

Gases