by New experiments may have solved one of Venus’ biggest mysteries.
Astrochemists have discovered that iron-bearing minerals could be the mysterious ultraviolet-absorbing substance in the clouds that orbit the second ultra-hot planet from the sun.
When viewed in ultraviolet light, Venus‘ the clouds show dark streaks where something is absorbing those high energy wavelengths. Over the years, all manner of explanations for the absorbing substance have been proposed, from ferric chloride to various sulfur compounds and even microorganisms, an idea first presented by Carl Sagan in the 1960s and he still has supporters today. However, if the new results from scientists led by Clancy Zhijian Jiang and Paul Rimmer of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in England are correct, then they would discard life on Venus as an explanation, in favor of iron-chemistry established.
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Rimmer set the scene statement: “The only data available on the composition of the clouds were collected by probes and showed strange properties of the clouds so far we could not fully explain. In particular, when examined under ultraviolet light, the clouds of Venus specific UV feature. absorption pattern What elements, compounds or minerals are responsible for such an observation?”
Atmosphere of Venus mainly made of carbon dioxide, but its clouds found at an altitude between 30 and 40 miles (48 to 65 kilometers) above the hot searing surface are made of tiny droplets of sulfuric acid, laced with minerals that contain iron on them.
Jiang and Rimmer’s group synthesized various iron compounds that may be present in the clouds of Venus and immersed them in different concentrations of sulfuric acid. They discovered that when two of the mineral phases (ie, variations in mineral composition, in this case iron) – rhomboclase and ferric acid sulfate – are combined, they result in an effective ultraviolet absorber.
“The patterns and level of absorption shown by the combination of these two mineral phases are consistent with the dark UV patches observed in the clouds of Venus,” Jiang said in the statement. “These targeted experiments revealed the complex chemical web within the atmosphere, and shed light on elemental cycling on the surface of Venus.”
Considering the amount of UV absorber in the clouds of Venus, Jiang and Rimmer’s results strongly suggest that there is significant and unexplored chemistry going on in the clouds of Venus. After all, the presence of the UV absorber is more than just a scientific curiosity. The abundance and distribution of the UV absorber changes over time, and previous studies they have shown how the variations in ultraviolet albedo – a measure of how reflective or absorptive a planet is – can affect the climate of Venus.
Between 2006 and 2017, the amount of solar ultraviolet light reflected back into space by the clouds of Venus dropped by 50% before jumping back up to previous levels as the abundance of UV absorbers in the clouds changed. The extra UV light absorbed helped drive the circulation in the upper atmosphere even faster, fueling the 200-mph (320 kph) winds that power the “super rotation” in the atmosphere of Venus. This is the extreme phenomenon in which Venus is seen with its upper atmosphere decoupled: the solid body of Venus turns on its axis once every 243 Earth days, but the upper atmosphere rotates around the planet in just four days.
Although the new result of the researchers may disappoint those who hope for it The life of Venice, the door is still open for microbes on the second planet from the sun. After all, despite the fact that the surface of Venus is a real hell hole with a temperature of around 464 degrees Celsius (867 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures of 93 bar – about 93 times higher than Earth at sea level – at the height of the clouds, there are actually much more conditions. clement, with temperature and pressure similar to Earth. Of course, any microbial life in the skies of Venus would have to contend with the toxic clouds of sulfuric acid and almost no water, but recent research after it was discovered that amino acids, which are one of the basic building blocks of life, can survive in the sulfuric acid-concentrated environment. Then there is the puzzling and controversial detect phosphine — a gas associated with biology on Earth — in the clouds of Venus, which is still in turmoil.
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Ultimately, the answers to all these questions can only be achieved by returning to Venus with new and bold missions.
NASA plans to launch a mission called DAVINCI (“Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry and Imaging of the Deep Atmosphere in Venus”) in 2029, which will closely scrutinize the atmosphere of Venus at insert a probe into it, to confirm the identity of the UV absorber and confirm or rule out the presence of phosphine. A second NASA mission named VERITAS (“Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy”) is awaiting a final decision on its subsequent future. being postponed in 2022 to finance the delay Psyche asteroid mission.
Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) also goes back to Venus DEPARTURE, which will be launched in the early 2030s to study the planet’s atmosphere and geology. (ESA’s first mission to the planet, Venus Expresswho is an 18-year-old boy who is still operating, having been launched in November 2005).
The new results were published on January 3 in the journal Scientific Progress.
