Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres — mentioned by perihelions

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 20:22:20 GMT

"leaving the tantalizing possibility that we’ve detected the last vestiges of an ancient ecosystem." According to the paper in your first link [0], PH3 gets destroyed by ultraviolet light-related chemistry, and so has a short lifetime in planetary atmospheres (section 2.3 on page 7, though that's specific to Earth's atmosphere). I assume this means if they've detected phosphine, there must be an ongoing process generating or replenishing it. [0] https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.05224

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres — mentioned by tectonic

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 20:12:33 GMT

On the other hand, we may have instead found evidence of a new abiotic form of phosphine synthesis— I expect scientists will be working hard to propose non-biological processes that could explain these results. I also expect some new Venus probes real soon now. This definitely could be the result of an unknown abiotic process. It also definitely could be evidence of life. Some papers to check out: - https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.05224 - https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2017.1783 For 3 billion years, ending about 750 million years ago, Venus was likely hospitable, leaving the…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres · HackerPapers discussions

Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres — mentioned by perihelions

Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres — mentioned by tectonic