Source of phosphine on Venus-an unsolved problem
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The tentative detection of ppb levels of phosphine (PH3) in the clouds of Venus was extremely surprising, as this reduced gas was not expected to be a component of Venus’ oxidized atmosphere. Despite potential confirmation in legacy Pioneer Venus mass spectrometry data, the detection remains controversial. Here we review the potential production of phosphine by gas reactions, surface and sub-surface geochemistry, photochemistry, and other nonequilibrium processes. None of these potential phosphine production pathways is sufficient to explain the presence of phosphine in Venus atmosphere at near the observed abundance. 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 a strictly aerial microbial biosphere produces PH3. The detection of phosphine adds to the complexity of chemical processes in the Venusian environment and motivates better quantitation of the gas phase chemistry of phosphorus species and in situ follow-up sampling missions to Venus.
Date Issued
2024-04-10
Date Acceptance
2024-03-18
Citation
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2024, 11
ISSN
2296-987X
Publisher
Frontiers Media S.A.
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© 2024Bains, Seager, Clements, Greaves, Rimmer and Petkowski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. Nouse, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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Subjects
Astronomy & Astrophysics
ATMOSPHERE
atmospheric chemistry, phosphine
clouds
CLOUDS
GAS
NO EVIDENCE
PH3
photochemistry
Physical Sciences
Science & Technology
Venus
volcanoes
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
1372057
Date Publish Online
2024-04-10