Study Claims Photosynthesis Can Possibly Happen in Venus: Is This a Sign of Life?

The discovery of phosphine gas in Venus's atmosphere prompted the intriguing issue of whether it might be biologically produced.

So, lead by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona biochemist Rakesh Mogul, scientists set out to perform one. They started by looking at how much sunlight can get through Venus' clouds. We have data from Russia's Venus expedition, which took place between 1967 and 1983. While none of their probes lasted long on the surface, they did bring back measurements of the clouds they took during their descents.

The researchers were able to compute the light levels within the clouds using these and other historical observations and discovered that irradiances in Venus's middle and lower clouds are similar to those on Earth's surface, where photosynthetic life is prevalent.

However, just having enough light isn't enough. According to research published earlier this year, there isn't enough water activity in Venus' clouds to support life as we know it. However, this may not be the case if the composition of Venus' clouds differs from what we believe. For example, the concentration of sulfuric acid in the middle clouds is estimated to be 75 percent, and in the lower clouds, it is estimated to be 98 percent.

Mogul and his colleagues went back over the Venus data and discovered that the sulfuric acid fingerprints might also be generated by neutralized sulfuric acid, such as ammonium bisulfate. If this is the case, Venus' clouds might have considerably more water activity - and significantly less acidity - than previously thought.

This isn't to suggest that it isn't true. Instead, the study aims to show that this is a simple possibility, which will open up new possibilities for future research, such as a more comprehensive investigation of Venus's atmosphere to assess habitability.

"Our research backs up the possibility of phototrophy and/or chemotrophic by microorganisms in Venus's clouds," added Mogul.

"On Earth, the acidity and water activity levels may be within an acceptable range for microbial development, whereas Venus's clouds may be friendly to life due to continuous lighting with low UV. The clouds of Venus, we feel, would be an excellent target for habitability or life detection missions, similar to those now planned for Mars and Europa."

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