An aircraft-borne telescope couldn’t discover indicators of a compound presumably linked to organic exercise throughout observations of Venus’ environment.
The invention of a possible sign indicating the presence of phosphine within the clouds of Venus brought on a sensation in 2020. It is because phosphine is a attainable biomarker, or indicator of potential life.
SOFIA, a far infrared telescope mounted in a 747 plane to carry out observations not accessible from ground-based observatories, carried out follow-up observations of Venus in an try to verify or refute the discovering of phosphine.Â
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The result’s that SOFIA couldn’t discover telltale indicators of phosphine throughout three flights in November 2021, in keeping with a Universities Area Analysis Affiliation (USRA) statement (opens in new tab).
“Phosphine is a comparatively easy chemical compound — it is only a phosphorus atom with three hydrogens — so you’ll assume that may be pretty simple to provide. However on Venus, it is not apparent the way it could possibly be made,” stated Martin Cordiner, a researcher in astrochemistry and planetary science at NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Middle in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Bringing SOFIA to bear on Venus posed its personal challenges, in keeping with the USRA group. The planet was seen for under about half an hour after sundown, and the plane wanted to be in the precise place on the proper time. Since Venus is contained in the orbit of Earth, the planet has phases from our perspective, just like the moon, and is near the sun within the sky.
“You do not need daylight by chance coming in and shining in your delicate telescope devices,” Cordiner stated. “The sun is the very last thing you need within the sky while you’re doing these sorts of delicate observations.”
Helping the worldwide hunt for phosphine within the Venusian environment was one in all SOFIA’s final science efforts. Its operations ended in September 2022.
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