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Life On Venus? We Look At The Potential.

Venus (L) and Jupiter (R) rise together in a  rare conjunction over the Hell Gate (rear) and Robert F. Kennedy (front) Bridges in the early morning in New York.
Venus (L) and Jupiter (R) rise together in a rare conjunction over the Hell Gate (rear) and Robert F. Kennedy (front) Bridges in the early morning in New York.

Feeling like you’re ready to leave Planet Earth? Yeah, us too. But while some scientists previously thought that Mars’ habitat represented the best place for life outside our planet, recent evidence suggests Venus could be a new contender.

Scientists recently discovered the presence of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere. Now, the existence of a chemical doesn’t sound like much, but the two papers that announced the finding say that only something currently alive could be responsible for phosphine’s existence.

In a place that’s long been thought to be inhospitable to all forms of life, the new discovery has puzzled the planetary science community over what makes a planet habitable. What does the discovery of phosphine gas in the Venusian atmosphere mean for the future of space exploration?

Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5

Héctor Alejandro Arzate

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