Scientists from the USA, India and Poland compared the conditions in the clouds of Venus and in the most unfavorable places for life on Earth and came to the conclusion that the atmosphere of Venus can support the existence of microorganisms. With their help, the authors of the article explain the strange changes in the planet's atmosphere. The research is published in the journal Astrobiology.
For several decades, scientists have been trying to find an explanation for the changes in the albedo (reflectivity) of the Venusian atmosphere, which are associated with the appearance of light-absorbing spots in the atmosphere. The authors of the article propose to consider the possibility that some of them are microorganisms.
In the lower layers of the atmosphere of Venus (about 50 km above the surface), fairly moderate temperatures and pressures are maintained - about 60 ° C and one atmosphere. On Earth, microorganisms survive in less favorable conditions: in hot springs, near the ocean floor, in the upper atmosphere and in acidic lakes.
The authors of the work relied on data from the MESSENGER probe that flew past Venus and the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki still operating in orbit of the planet. The particles that scientists have studied are very similar in size to terrestrial bacteria and have the same reflective properties as some well-known microorganisms, such as algae. Scientists emphasize that the atmosphere as a whole can also contain water and various solutions.
So far, all the devices that could take samples from the atmosphere of Venus were not able to distinguish between organic and inorganic. New probes with more advanced equipment will help to confirm or disprove the presented hypothesis.