By Brooke Edwards
On September 14, news of the discovery of phosphine on Venus took scientists by surprise. A team of researchers, all associated with different astronomy organizations from multiple countries, made the observations using telescopes in Hawaii and Chile.
Phosphine, composed of phosphorus and hydrogen, is produced in small amounts by bacteria on Earth. This discovery excited scientists worldwide as there is no known inorganic process for producing phosphine, leading to the speculation that the byproduct of some form of life had been detected. While it would be highly unlikely for life to exist on the surface of Venus, which is hot enough to melt lead, microbial life may float in the planet’s atmosphere. These conditions would make any microbial lifeforms there entirely different from those found here.
While missions to observe Venus are being considered by NASA, the Mars 2020 Rover, Perseverance, is currently on its way to the Red Planet. Scheduled to land in February, 2021, Perseverance is unlike any previous Mars rover as it will gather samples for future missions to collect and return to Earth. The rover will also scan geological features to detect where, and in what quantity, different chemicals are distributed on the Martian surface. It has been speculated that Mars may have once hosted life. With research from Perseverance, we may find evidence of that within our lifetimes.
Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons, is another area of great interest. While observing Saturn and its moons, NASA’s Cassini probe discovered that Enceladus has an ocean world under its frozen surface. This discovery of liquid water, one of the main prerequisites for life as we know it, has led many scientists to propose future missions to Enceladus.
As for the possibility of life beyond our Solar System, NASA has the Kepler and TESS telescopes. They observe stars in our Milky Way Galaxy for signs of planets that may be in habitable zones around their host stars. This is done by watching for a transit, or passing by, of a planet in front of a star. When a planet transits a star, the star’s brightness dims and scientists can determine the size of the planet passing between us and the star. If a planet is in a habitable zone, where the temperature and conditions might support life, it becomes a subject of interest. It is estimated that there are about 100 thousand-million stars in our galaxy, and over 2 trillion galaxies in the Universe. We still have little idea of what is in our own galaxy. Who knows what we will discover in time.
Are we alone? The true answer is that we still do not know. Given the size of the universe, it would be astounding if Earth were the only place that hosts life of any kind. It is likely that life exists elsewhere, maybe even in our own Solar System. Until we find answers, we keep searching.
Sources: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Phosphine, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
