We have had two earlier posts here about reports of observation of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus and doubts about the analysis that led to the reported detection:
- Are Atmospheric Anomalies on Venus Signs of Life? (2021-12-22)
- Phosphine—Life on Venus or Bad Statistical Analysis? (2022-05-13)
Now, a new paper, “Recovery of Phosphine in Venus’ Atmosphere from SOFIA Observations”, based upon observations from SOFIA, NASA’s flying infrared telescope (recently retired), claims a 6.5σ detection of phosphine at 1 part per billion at an altitude of 75 km in the Venusian atmosphere.
Phosphine is considered a “biomarker”, since natural processes destroy it and no known abiotic source is present on Venus which could produce the gas in the quantity observed. It has been suggested that phosphine could be produced by microbial life in the atmosphere of Venus, where conditions are such that some known terrestrial extremophile bacteria might survive.