Joint Astrophysical Colloquium
Venus: looking for phosphine with ALMA
Anita Richards (Jodrell Bank Centre for Astronomy, University of Manchester)
Thursday 22/04/2021 @ 11:30, Remote Talk
We cannot explain the detection of phosphine gas (by JCMT and ALMA) in the clouds of Venus (Greaves et al., 2020 Nature Astronomy) with any known chemistry or volcanic activity. We do know that it must be replaced continuously as phosphine is destroyed by the highly oxidising atmosphere of Venus, and that phosphine is produced by some microbes on Earth. The potential survival of life in the extraordinarily acidic atmosphere of Venus can't be explained yet either, but it is one of the possibities being considered. This talk will cover hazards and solutions when observing the second brightest object in the sky with ALMA, the implications of the detection and other evidence, and potential follow-up.