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[albanibr]

Fusão de dois buracos negros em um só com massa 142 vezes maior que a do Sol é captada pela 1ª vez

Simulação matemática foi capaz de traduzir as ondas gravitacionais emitidas pela colisão, e reproduzir o fenômeno. Veja o vídeo.
Por G1
02/09/2020 09h00 Atualizado há 30 minutos

Ilustração feita a partir de uma simulação numérica mostra os dois buracos negros em espiral antes de se fundir, emitindo ondas gravitacionais — Foto: N. Fischer, H. Pfeiffer, A. Buonanno (Instituto de Física Gravitacional Max Planck), com colaboração do Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS).

Pesquisadores dos Estados Unidos detectaram o momento em que dois buracos negros se fundiram e formaram um novo de massa intermediária. Uma simulação matemática foi capaz de traduzir as ondas gravitacionais emitidas pela colisão, e reproduzir o fenômeno.
Foi a primeira vez que cientistas identificaram a formação de um buraco negro de massa intermediária, com 142 vezes a massa do Sol, segundo dois estudos publicados em colaboração pelas revistas "Astrophyiscal Journal Letters" e "Physical Review Letters" nesta quarta-feira (2).

Cientistas detectam fusão entre dois buracos negros a partir de das ondas gravitacionais
A aproximação dos dois buracos negros se parece com uma dança (veja o vídeo) e é resultado da atração dos campos gravitacionais. Momentos antes de se fundirem em um só, eles se movem em espiral até o momento da colisão e da formação do novo buraco negro.
Esse tipo de buraco negro, de tamanho intermediário, fica entre os dois tipos já conhecidos e descritos anteriormente deste fenômeno: os buracos negros estelares e os supermassivos:

• Um buraco negro estelar é formado a partir da explosão conhecida como supernova, quando uma estrela com muita massa "morre" e entra em colapso.
• O maior de todos é o buraco negro supermassivo, que pode ter a massa milhões de vezes maior que a do Sol, mas muito compacta.

"Um dos grandes mistérios da astrofísica é como se formam os buracos negros supermassivos", disse em nota Berry Kalogera, um dos autores do estudo.

Ilustração feita a partir de uma simulação numérica mostra os dois buracos negros em espiral antes de se fundir, emitindo ondas gravitacionais — Foto: N. Fischer, H. Pfeiffer, A. Buonanno (Instituto de Física Gravitacional Max Planck), com colaboração do Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS)
Os buracos negros são uma enorme quantidade de massa concentrada em um espaço muito reduzido. Seu campo gravitacional é tão forte que ele atrai para si tudo o que se aproxima dele, inclusive a luz.
Segundo o pesquisador, a busca por um buraco negro intermediário era feita há anos. Os cientistas sabiam que existia uma lacuna entre os dois tipos conhecidos anteriormente, mas nunca haviam registrado esse fenômeno.

"Agora temos a prova de que os buracos negros de massa intermediária existem", escreveu Kalogera.

O laboratório LIGO Louisiana que detectou ondas gravitacionais — Foto: NSF/LIGO

Ondas gravitacionais

A descoberta dos pesquisadores foi feita a partir dos estudos de ondas gravitacionais captadas em 21 de maio de 2019 pelas máquinas do Advanced LIGO, um instrumento astronômico capaz de "escutar" a frequência emitida por estes fenômenos espaciais.
Ondas gravitacionais são encontradas no Universo quando há uma mudança repentina na gravidade em algum ponto do espaço. Isso pode acontecer, por exemplo, após a colisão de dois buracos negros, é mais ou menos parecido com as ondulações provocadas ao se arremessar uma pedra na água.
O cientista alemão Albert Einstein estimou a existência dessas ondas em 1916 mas apenas 100 anos depois uma equipe pesquisadores foi capaz de registrá-las com os sensores de mais de 4 km de comprimento do Advanced LIGO.

Fusão de dois buracos negros em um só com massa 142 vezes maior que a do Sol é captada pela 1ª vez

Simulação matemática foi capaz de traduzir as ondas gravitacionais emitidas pela colisão, e reproduzir o fenômeno. Veja o vídeo.

g1.globo.com

Coloquei o video q tem um videozinho mixuruca e não sei se vai aparecer colando a noticia

 

[Rodrigo Zé do Cx Jr]

O cientista alemão Albert Einstein estimou a existência dessas ondas em 1916 mas apenas 100 anos depois uma equipe pesquisadores foi capaz de registrá-las com os sensores de mais de 4 km de comprimento do Advanced LIGO.

Einstein não era ser humano, fato.

 

[Krion]

 

[Vim do Futuro]

Uma bela aula sobre buracos negros, conforme Einstein já previa. Tá em pt/br.

 

[Krion]

 

[Geo]

Tinha deixado esses assuntos de lado porque algumas respostas simplesmente nunca vão ser descobertas, mas acabo voltando, é triste. Mas a pergunta de porque existir as coisas e não simplesmente nada me encabula desde sempre, e nunca vamos ter resposta.

Segundo o princípio antrópico forte, a maioria dos universos realmente deu no nada. Ou colapsaram logo depois que surgiram (geometria fechada) ou expandiram muito rápido em um vazio abissal (geometria aberta) antes da matéria poder se formar. Estamos no único universo que deu certo (até onde sabemos) que nem expandiu de mais nem de menos.

 

[Cruscotto]

Segundo o princípio antrópico forte, a maioria dos universos realmente deu no nada. Ou colapsaram logo depois que surgiram (geometria fechada) ou expandiram muito rápido em um vazio abissal (geometria aberta) antes da matéria poder se formar. Estamos no único universo que deu certo (até onde sabemos) que nem expandiu de mais nem de menos.

Mas se não tivesse nada pra fazer coisa alguma seria bem mais fácil.

 

[BigJ]

Avanços no programa espacial brasileiro.

 

[Krion]

Quem quiser saber mais,
maiores detalhes no spoiler

Spoiler: This spectacular three-star system is radically different than our solar system

Warped gas disc torn apart by three stars directly observed for the first time
This spectacular three-star system is radically different than our solar system.

by Rob Lea


Astronomers have discovered a spectacular first in terms of star clusters and planet-forming discs of gas, a system–GW Orionis–with a warped disc with torn out inner rings. The team believes that the disc’s odd shape –which defies the common view of a flat plane orbiting planets and gas discs–was created when the misalignment of the three stars at the centre of the disc caused it to fracture into distinct rings.
As well as being extraordinary in its own right, the astronomers believe that the warped disc could harbour exotic and strange exoplanets– not unlike Tatooine in Star Wars series– which formed within the inclined rings and are, for now, hidden from view.

“The idea that planets form in neatly-arranged, flat discs around young stars goes back to the 18th century and Kant and Laplace,” research team-leader Stefan Kraus, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Exeter in the UK, tells ZME Science. “Our images reveal an extreme case where the disc is not flat at all, but is warped and has a misaligned ring that has broken away from the disc.”

“‘Tatooine’ planets that orbit around 2 or 3 suns have already been envisioned by science fiction and some Tatooine exoplanets have already been found. Here, we observe how such planets form and find that they can form on extreme, highly inclined orbits — in configurations that are completely different from the ‘neat’ arrangement observed in the Solar System.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

The left panel shows an artistic impression of the inner region of the GW Orionis disc, including the ring, which is based on the 3D shape reconstructed by the team. (ESO)

GW Orionis is Twisted
The team saw the warped shape of the system GW Orionis, which sits 1300 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Orion, in observations made by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) operated by European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA) based in the Chilean desert. But, properly envisioning this shape and its cause meant studying the system for a staggering 11 years.

“The most important result from our study is that we can identify the cause for the misalignments and link it to the ’disc tearing’ effect that has been proposed by theorists 8 years ago, but has not been observed so far,” Kraus continues. “For this, it was essential to measure the orbital motion of the three stars that are in the centre of the system over their full 11-year orbital period.

“We found that the three stars do not orbit in the same plane, but their orbits are misaligned with respect to each other and with respect to the disc.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

This animation allows the viewer to see the warped disc and the tilted ring of GW Orionis that was torn apart from it in spectacular detail. The animation is based on a computer model of the inner region of GW Orionis, provided by the team; they were able to reconstruct the 3D orbits of the stars and the 3D shape of the disc from the observational data.

“We have observed GW Orionis, a triple star system surrounded by a planet-forming disc, with several different telescopes including the VLT and ALMA. After observing the three stars for several years, our team was able to calculate the orbits very accurately,” team member Alison Young of the Universities of Exeter and Leicester tells ZME Science. “This data allowed us to build a detailed computer model of the system, which predicted that the disc would be bent and even torn to form a separate inner ring.”

“A couple of years later when we received the data back from the VLT and ALMA, the image of a disc bent and even torn to form a separate inner ring, were stunning.”
Alison Young of the Universities of Exeter and Leicester

A paper detailing their work is published in the journal Science.

GW Orionis, a triple star system with a peculiar inner region. Unlike the flat planet-forming discs we see around many stars, GW Orionis features a warped disc, deformed by the movements of the three stars at its centre. This composite image shows both the ALMA and SPHERE observations of the disc. (ESO/Exeter/Kraus et al., ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))

That Tears It! How GW Orionis got warped
The images of GW Orionis that the astronomers collected represent the first visualisation of disc-tearing ever captured by researchers. This tearing and the ‘warped’ effect it created marks this out as a planetary system exceptionally different from the solar system.

“The radial shadows in the VLT SPHERE image are clear evidence that the ring is tilted. To form a narrow shadow like this on the disc you need a fairly opaque ring of material that is at an angle to the disc surface blocking the starlight,” Young explains. “This result is consistent with some modelling done by members of the team which worked out the most likely orientations of the components of the system.”

A 3D model of GW Orionis, (Kraus et al. 2020 Science 371)
“This system is unusual because the orbits of the three stars are misaligned, unlike the planets in the solar system they do not orbit in the same plane, and these stars host a large disc that is also tilted relative to their orbits,” Young continues. “We see all sorts of intriguing structures now in images of protoplanetary discs but this is the first direct evidence of the disc tearing effect.”
The observations also gave the researchers an idea of the vast scale of the GW Orionis disc.

“The ring harbours about 30 Earth masses of dust, which is likely sufficient for planet formation to occur in the ring. Any planets formed within the misaligned ring will orbit the star on highly oblique orbits and we predict that many planets on oblique, wide-separation orbits will be discovered in future planet imaging surveys.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

As well as being able to reconstruct the torn disc of GW Orionis from the ALMA data in conjunction with data collected from several other telescopes, the team has been able to piece together the process by which this tearing likely occurred. They conclude that it could be a result of those three, misaligned stars. Something that initially came as a surprise to the astronomers.

“One very intriguing aspect of GW Orionis is that the orbits of the stars are strongly misaligned with respect to each other, and they are also strongly titled with respect to the large-scale disc. This wasn’t clear at the time when we started the study and became only apparent after monitoring the orbit motion for the full 11-years orbital period.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

This computer simulation shows the evolution of the GW Orionis system. The scientists believe the disc around the three stars in the system was initially flat, much like the planet-forming disc we see around many stars. Their simulation shows that the misalignment in the orbits of the three stars caused the disc around them to break into distinct rings, which is exactly what they see in the observations of the system. (Exeter/Kraus et al.)


Alison Young explains that because the disc surrounds three stars and the orbits of those stars are misaligned with respect to each other, the gravitational pull on the disc is not the same all the way around. This means that the gas and dust orbiting in the disc around all three stars feels a different force at different positions in the disc. This is what tears the disc apart into separate rings.

“Our study shows that the strong distortions observed in the disc– such as the warp and torn-away ring–can be explained by the conflicting gravitational pull from the 3 stars. The key aspect is that the orbits are strongly misaligned with the disc.
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

How Warped Rings and Multiple Suns Effect Exoplanets
One interesting consequence of the warping of this gas and dust is that fact that it will wrap rings of material around any planets forming within it. This tearing also has a marked effect on these exoplanets’ orbits. This leads to conditions that would make the exoplanets in the GW Orionis system significantly different from planets in our own solar system.
“The planets in our solar system all have more-or-less aligned orbits. Any planets that form in the warped disc or misaligned ring could have highly inclined orbits,” says Young. “Further out, the disc is flatter and any planets that form there are likely to orbit in a similar plane to the disc. Of course, any planets that form in the GW Orionis system will also have three suns!”
Kraus points out that planets with oblique orbits have been identified before–particularly in the case of ‘Hot Jupiters’–planets with a mass and size comparable to the solar system’s largest planet, but that orbit closer to their star and transit across its face.
“Hot Jupiters orbit their stars very close in, and it is clear that they have not formed on the oblique orbits were we observe them. Instead, they must have been moved onto these orbits through migration processes,” Kraus says. “We haven’t found yet any long-period planets on oblique orbits–comparable to Earth or Jupiter. However, our research shows that such planets could form in the torn-apart rings around multiple systems.

“Given that about half of all stars are found in multiple systems, there could be a huge population of such long-period planets with high obliquity.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

This artists impression shows the orbit of the planet in the triple-star system HD 131399. Two of the stars are close together and the third, brighter component is orbited by a gas giant planet named HD 131399Ab.

Existing under the glare of three suns would make the planets in the GW Orionis system similar in some ways to an exoplanet discovered by astronomers from the University of Arizona in 2016.

The young exoplanet HD 131399Ab, 340 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, has a scorching hot temperature of around 580 C and exists in a state of constant daytime. It too has been compared to the planet of Tatooine from the Star Wars series. But Straus believes the planets in GW Orionis could be much cooler than this–or could alternate between cool and hot climates.
“Planets on such orbits could have stable atmospheric conditions, but would be ‘ice worlds’ with low temperatures on their surfaces,” Kraus says. “Planets that might have formed in the circumstellar/ circumbinary disc would experience extreme temperature variations, depending on where they are on their orbit. This should result in a strongly variable climate.”

Further Questions and Future Investigations: Delving Deeper into GW Orionis
Questions still remain about the GW Orionis system especially in light of research from another team who investigated the system with the ALMA telescope. This work-published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters earlier this year– suggests that our understanding of how the disc became warped is missing a vital component. “We think that the presence of a planet between these rings is needed to explain why the disc tore apart,” says Jiaqing Bi of the University of Victoria, Canada, lead author of a paper.

Speaking to ZME Science exclusively, Kraus addresses this earlier research: “This alternative scenario, where a yet-unseen planet located between the inner and middle ring might be the cause for the unusual disc shape, is more speculative, as such as planet has not been found yet,” the astrophysicist says. “Also, the paper’s authors had less information on the 3-dimensional shape of the disk as their ALMA observations had 6x lower solution and they did not have scattered-light images showing the shadows. Plus, they did not know the full orbits.”
Young continues by adding one future question regarding GW Orionis she would like to see answered also concerns the mechanism that caused the warping of the as and dust planet-forming disc.

“An important question we need to look at is how these systems came to be misaligned in the first place. Was the disc formed with the stars, did the material forming the disc arrive later, or did the system get disrupted at some point?”
Alison Young of the Universities of Exeter and Leicester

“Think of a star as a spinning top tilted at an angle,” the researcher suggests. “We want to find out how tilted the stars are so we can check whether a star’s tilt–or ‘spin axis’– matches the tilt of its disc, or if the stars in a binary or triple system have the same or different tilts.”

Some members of the team that made this discovery are currently developing a technique for measuring the spin axis of stars which could massively aid the understanding of how these systems formed.

An Upcoming survey conducted by the ALMA telescope array could help shed light on the motion of gas and dust in planet-forming discs such as that found in the GW Orionis system. (NSF/NRAO)

Remembering that whilst this is not the first system discovered with such a warped disc, it is the first with a directly observed torn disc. This means the key to answering lingering questions likely lies in the direct observation of more systems that share features with GW Orionis.
“There are a few planet-forming discs that show some evidence of warping but for these, it is unclear what is causing the effect or there is an alternative scenario that can explain the observations, that has not been ruled out yet,” adds Young. “This is the first time that disc tearing has been directly observed and the only system so far for which we can link the structure with the physical mechanism behind it.”

Young suggests that the results of a larger survey performed by the ALMA array could provide clearer information about the motion of gas in planet-forming discs and their chemical composition, thus helping the team gather more information about the GW Orionis disc.

“We would like to obtain high-resolution observations of molecular emission from GW Orionis to shed more light on the motion of the gas in the disc and perhaps reveal any planets that are forming,” she explains. “Of course, we also are keen to understand if there are differences in how planets might form in warped discs compared to flat discs around a single star and we will be working on new computer models to look at this, using what we have learned from our observations.”

The ALMA image (left) shows the disc’s ringed structure, with the innermost ring separated from the rest of the disc. The SPHERE observations (right) allowed astronomers to see for the first time the shadow of this innermost ring on the rest of the disc, which made it possible for them to reconstruct its warped shape.

Young explains the importance of the GW Orionis images the team captured, whilst focusing on one image that for her, brought home the significance of the investigation in which she played a part.

“I find the SPHERE image [above left] in particular amazing because we can really see the disc is a 3-dimensional structure with a surface covered in bumps and shadows. We are looking at what could eventually become an unusual type of planetary system in the very process of forming.”
Alison Young of the Universities of Exeter and Leicester

For Stefan Kraus, the beauty of investigating a system such as GW Orionis is the wonder to imagining what it is like to stand on the surface of such a world and stare up into sky. Kraus concludes: “Half of the sky would be covered by a massive disc warp that is being illuminated by the 3 stars, intercepted by narrow shadows that are cast by the misaligned disc ring.”

“I find it fascinating to imagine how the sky would look like from any planet in such a system — one would see not only the 3 stars dancing around each other at different speeds but also a massive dust ring extending over the whole firmament.”
Stefan Kraus, professor of astrophysics, the University of Exeter

 

[Geo]

Mas se não tivesse nada pra fazer coisa alguma seria bem mais fácil.

Verdade. Mesmo no único universo que deu certo, a vida na Terra poderia ter ficado nas bactérias, mas a seleção natural e as mutações genéticas inevitavelmente fariam emergir formas mais complexas e, eventualmente, uma espécie inteligente.

 

[Krion]

 

[Krion]

 

[Vim do Futuro]

Dando umas voltinhas com a ISS. Vale conferir.

 

[Krion]

 

[Krion]

No aguardo, pois sendo confirmado, será uma revelação incrível.

 

[Krion]

No aguardo, pois sendo confirmado, será uma revelação incrível.

Mais alguns (MUITOS) detalhes dessa possível incrível descoberta, que pode mudar muitas coisas

Was life discovered in the clouds of Venus in 2020?

Brian Roemmele
·
September 13, 2020
Founder + Editor at Read Multiplex (2017–present)
“Was life discovered in the clouds of Venus in 2020?”

Yes, indeed as of September 13th, 2020 there was compelling and rather robust evidence suggested by Scientists at Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cardiff University and elsewhere, have observed what may be signs of life in the clouds of Venus, to be announced on September 14th, 2020.

The paper will be published on September 14th, 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. The scientists will also hold a press conference via Zoom to present their findings.

The findings were produced using the James Clark Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and the Atcama Large Millimeter Array in Chile.

Researcher Janusz Petkowski stated:

“Astronomers will think of all the ways to justify Phosphine without life and I welcome that. Please do, because we are at the end of our possibilities to show abiotic processes that can make Phosphine”.

We will explore this new research and other supporting research here.

Specimen of an enhanced image of Venus.

I have been studying astrobiology since the 1970s and find this astonishing work to be the latest robust findings on the possibility of life in the atmosphere of Venus. This is perhaps one of humanity’s most important discoveries.

BOOOOOM!

Scientists at MIT, Cardiff University, and elsewhere have observed what may be signs of life in the clouds of Venus.

Precisely as I advised clients a decade ago.

This is the announcement video to be officially published on September 14th, 2020.

We are not alone. https://t.co/PSUgUj66T7 pic.twitter.com/SljzVZh7rb
— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) September 13, 2020

Specimen of my overly cautious Tweet.

Spectacular Research By Spectacular Scientists

Research scientists Sara Seager, Janusz J. Petkowski, Peter Gao, William Bains, Noelle C. Bryan, Sukrit Ranjan, Jane Greaves and others submitted a paper to the peer-reviewed academic journal Astrology [1] and it forms the original basis of the world changing announcement. I will present some findings from this earlier research for a few reasons.

I urge you to support these spectacular scientists and the Royal Astronomical Society by viewing the presentation directly:

RAS: Media Invited to Discuss Groundbreaking Astronomy Result on September 14 https://t.co/5u8FEdN6cy
— AAS Press Office (@AAS_Press) September 9, 2020

Specimen of the Tweet for the September 14th, 2020 event.

The August 13th, 2020 paper:

The Venusian Lower Atmosphere Haze as a Depot for Desiccated Microbial Life: A Proposed Life Cycle for Persistence of the Venusian Aerial Biosphere.

Abstract

We revisit the hypothesis that there is life in the Venusian clouds to propose a life cycle that resolves the conundrum of how life can persist aloft for hundreds of millions to billions of years. Most discussions of an aerial biosphere in the Venus atmosphere temperate layers never address whether the life—small microbial-type particles—is free floating or confined to the liquid environment inside cloud droplets. We argue that life must reside inside liquid droplets such that it will be protected from a fatal net loss of liquid to the atmosphere, an unavoidable problem for any free-floating microbial life forms. However, the droplet habitat poses a lifetime limitation: Droplets inexorably grow (over a few months) to large enough sizes that are forced by gravity to settle downward to hotter, uninhabitable layers of the Venusian atmosphere. (Droplet fragmentation—which would reduce particle size—does not occur in Venusian atmosphere conditions.) We propose for the first time that the only way life can survive indefinitely is with a life cycle that involves microbial life drying out as liquid droplets evaporate during settling, with the small desiccated “spores” halting at, and partially populating, the Venus atmosphere stagnant lower haze layer (33–48 km altitude). We, thus, call the Venusian lower haze layer a “depot” for desiccated microbial life. The spores eventually return to the cloud layer by upward diffusion caused by mixing induced by gravity waves, act as cloud condensation nuclei, and rehydrate for a continued life cycle. We also review the challenges for life in the extremely harsh conditions of the Venusian atmosphere, refuting the notion that the “habitable” cloud layer has an analogy in any terrestrial environment.

Summary

Life in the Venusian clouds has long since been a popular if speculative topic. The clouds decks of Venus themselves are often described as conductive to life. We reassessed this notion and reviewed the severe and unique environmental challenges that life in the aerial biosphere of Venus would have to overcome. The challenges include: an extremely acidic environment, far more so than any known environment on Earth; very low water content; and nutrient scarcity.

We also highlighted the assumption that life would have to reside inside protective cloud droplets (sulfuric acid mixed with water), and that any life would have to be photosynthetic to have enough energy for a variety of cellular processes.

The main new point of this work is to present a life cycle concept. Assuming that life must reside inside cloud droplets, we resolve the subsequent conundrum of gravitationally settling droplets reaching hotter, uninhabitable regions by proposing a Venusian life cycle where a critical step is microbes drying out to become spores on reaching the relatively stagnant lower haze layer, which we call a leaky “depot.” The dried out spores would reside there until some of them can be transported back up to the temperate, habitable cloud layers, where they would act as CCN to promote cloud formation, becoming enveloped in cloud droplets to continue the life cycle.

Thus we have a academic research paper that suggests that dark patches in the atmosphere of Venus could be caused by light-absorbing bacteria. The planet's atmosphere is 96.5 percent carbon dioxide and approximately 3.5 percent nitrogen. The runaway greenhouse climate keeps surface temperatures hovering around 864 degrees Fahrenheit with the atmospheric pressures on Venus as high as pressures about kilometer deep in the oceans of Earth.

Mariner 2 became the first successful interplanetary mission in December 1962 when it collected data within 35,000 km of Venus. Other space probes studying the clouds of Venus have detected objects called "mode 3 particles”. These are particles in size that is comparable to bacteria. It is also clear their shape is non-spherical, suggesting that they are not simply droplets of liquid.

Life on Earth generally use of the carbonyl group, which consists of a carbon atom and an oxygen atom linked with a double bond: C=O. A carbonyl group behaves in such a manner in liquid water that it can be used to link organic molecules together. In concentrated sulfuric found in the atmosphere of Venus, another simple group of atoms behaves in a similar way called the alkene group of: C=C. Alkene group molecules would fit into the chemical profiles of the atmosphere of Venus and likely thrive.

Specimen of extremophiles.

Micro-organisms known as methanogens find oxygen essentially toxic. They actually prefer to use carbon dioxide – or other carbon-rich compounds, like carbon monoxide – and hydrogen gas to produce water and methane. This process also provides them with energy, and unlike photosynthesizing plants or algae, sunlight isn’t required. We tend to find methanogens inside deep-sea hydrothermal vents, within the Earth’s crust, and within the planet’s mantle. They don’t need to live in what we consider to be “normal” environments—they appear in so-called extreme environments. These are classified as extremophiles and they are found deep inside of volcanoes on Earth and perhaps even floating in our high atmosphere.

The new paper to be published In Nature on September 14th, 2020 will present a compelling case of a biosignature [2] in the Venusian atmosphere of Phosphine [3]. We will be hearing a great deal written about and talked about with regards to Phosphine. Many insights will likely fall into the camp of “this proves nothing”. Yet it is a very clear path to life and the authors suggest how in their papers.

Specimen of a proposed Phosphine molecule.

The Research On Venus Life

Phosphine is a gas that is produced most often via biological process of life. It has been known to be produced via non-biological methods. The conditions on Venus and the fcat that there are relatively high concentrations that would normally dissipate, the deviance supports the sources are continuous and highly probable to be from a biological process, e.g. life on Venus. Thus the researchers have concluded this is not an abiotic (non-biliogical) source of Phosphine but a biological source.

Of course science it about presenting empirical findings and forming a hypnosis, there very well could be an abiotic source but that alone would be an amazing discovery. However we must deploy Occam’s Razor and suggest the simplest explanation and the evidence suggests the simple explanation is biological sources, life.

The research team took over 6 months processing their new findings and were very reluctant to make a definitive paper as it would clearly establish a maverick position of life discovered outside of Earth. However they were convinced by robust supporting evidence and a cross section of peers.

With the Earth in the perfect position in the spring of 2020 they were able to capture a spectrograph of the correct wavelength backlit by the sun of the warmer clouds in the atmosphere of Venus.

The volume of Phosphine observed was stunning. They ruled out minerals blown into the atmosphere, volcanism, lightning and other known sources as there is simply no process that could maintain this abundance. So much Phosphine was observed we could conclude that the atmosphere of Venus is “teaming with life”.

Typically biological sources of Phosphine on Earth is produced by species of bacteria that do not absorb oxygen [4]. They absorb phosphate and hydrogen and expel Phosphine gas.

The “life zone” in the atmosphere of Venus is between 48 and 60 kilometers above the average planetary elevation. This region has an observed temperature of 20 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This is also precisely where the concentrations of Phosphine clouds have been observed. They are also associated with the dark matter mentioned in the August 2020 research paper. We can surmise that Ultraviolet light is begin “consumed” or otherwise absorbed by this proposed biological material.

One theory suggested by the authors of the papers is a gravity wave process that is a phenomena that can lift microbes in to the “life zone” of the atmosphere of Venus. The waves propagate over mountains and valleys and cause a vertical lift of very high force. This creates a sort of “circle of life” that allows for these proposed species to live in just the “life zone” of the planet.

Specimen of a novel process that could explain how “life” stays in the upper regions of Venus..

We should also not rule out far more complex life from the observations of Phosphine. It is quite possible we will observe life as large as a Whale on Earth quite happy suspended in the gravity waves of Venus.

I will not speculate about “intelligent life” on Venus but it is import to know Venus was nearly “earth-like” over 2 billion years ago and suffered an “earth shattering” event that may have reversed the rotation and inclination of the planet [6]. Venus may have had a shallow liquid-water ocean and habitable surface temperatures for up to 2 billion years of its early history, according to computer modeling of the planet’s ancient climate by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

This seems to have been a very large impact that literally changed the direction of the planet, although this meets with an abundance of skepticism.

We can be certain, that if there was life as we understand it on Venus when there was an impact of this magnitude, that likely caused the runaway green house effect and boiled off liquid water and oxygen, it likely ended at that moment.

Specimen image of rotations and inclinations of solar system planets.

With these discoveries we may have the last remnants of life from the planet. It is quite possible this adaptation was made sometime over the 2 billon years and has progressed to more complex life from this point.

Panspermia

It is also important to consider Panspermia [6]. This is an often discounted theory of how some life may have come about in the universe. Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe were influential proponents of panspermia.

Specimen artist rendering of comet transmitted life.

In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (containing carbon), which Wickramasinghe later proved to be correct.

Often lumped into a non-evolutionary or “religious” pseudo-science, there has been far more compelling evidence that we can detect the signs of bacterial life in comet tails and even interstellar dust.

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further contended that life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution.

Panspermia may also explain what we are observing in the atmosphere of Venus and perhaps other bodies in the solar system above the surface, on the surface, below the surface and in water or below ice.

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence

in 1967 Carl Sagan and Harold Morowitz authored a landmark paper [7] suggesting:

“Life in the Clouds of Venus?”

Also published in nature on September 16th, 1967 this paper was considered, overly speculative and “maverick”. It was one of many situation where Carl Sagan risked his reputation to publish what he knew to be very compelling research.

Abstract

WHILE the surface conditions of Venus make the hypothesis of life there implausible, the clouds of Venus are a different story altogether. As was pointed out some years ago, water, carbon dioxide and sunlight—the prerequisites for photosynthesis—are plentiful in the vicinity of the clouds. Since then, good additional evidence has been provided that the clouds are composed of ice crystals at their tops, and it seems likely that there are water droplets toward their bottoms. Independent evidence for water vapour also exists. The temperature at the cloud tops is about 210° K, and at the cloud bottoms is probably at least 260–280° K (refs. 4 and 6). Atmospheric pressure at this temperature level is about 1 atm. The observed planetary albedo falls steeply in the violet and ultra-violet, which accounts for the pale lemon yellow colour of Venus. The albedo decline would not be expected for pure ice particles, and must therefore be caused by some contaminant. Dust, ozone, Co2 and other gases may possibly explain these data but, whatever the explanation, the ultra-violet flux below the clouds is likely to be low. If small amounts of minerals are stirred up to the clouds from the surface, it is by no means difficult to imagine an indigenous biology in the clouds of Venus. What follows is one such speculation.

So convinced that life would be discovered in the universe, Carl published a book that contributed to him losing his job at Harvard University. Called “Intelligent Life In The Universe” [8] he co-authored it with Iosif Shklovskii.

Specimen of my original copy of “Intelligent life in the universe”.

Carl was advised to not publish by faculty at Harvard University and offered advice that he would damage his career. He published it non-the-less and it is one of the best books to look into the possibility of life in the universe from that epoch.

After losing his job he went on to Cornell University and to become one of the most well known popularizers of science and astronomy.

We will hear repeated by self appointed “internet debunkers” that “Extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence” for the next few months as more and more observations and empirical evidence mounts. It will also be ironic as this is Carl Sagan’s life work that he sacrificed a Harvard University job early in his career to support.

Carl never spoke much publicly about how this impacted his life, but he learned a hard lesson he would share privately, people, especially scientists will do almost anything other then confirm life outside of Earth. He created the phrase “Extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence” not to “debunk” anything, but to create an environment that fosters more study. No claims from a higher authority, but more research to confirm empirical observations.

In the years since his exceptional work from 1963–1967 on atmospheric life on Venus, we have had a tremendous amount of empirical work, just as Carl had asserted. His was a lonely trail in that epoch but today, we have reached nearly a preponderance of evidence, until we send a scooper probe to Venus, that we have come to discover life on another world. We are living in this historic moment in time and I want to present that when we have sent a probe to Venus and double confirm life, we name it after Carl Sagan, a hero that stood by his convictions, no matter what came.

These are extraordinary times and this research is just one small part of a torrent of new data that will be presented in this epoch. We much always remain skeptical but I also suggest to stay aware and stay curious, for you may miss one of the most important moments in human history.

Perhaps, we are not alone.

Perhaps, we have never been alone.

Perhaps, the abundance we see when we view the cosmos is as much an abundance of new life, as it is an abundance of billions of stars and planets.

Perhaps, we will be the first to know this definitively.

[1] The Venusian Lower Atmosphere Haze as a Depot for Desiccated Microbial Life: A Proposed Life Cycle for Persistence of the Venusian Aerial Biosphere

[2] Biosignature - Wikipedia

[3] Phosphine - Wikipedia

[4] Anaerobic organism - Wikipedia

[5] Panspermia - Wikipedia

[5] Venus May Once Have Been Habitable

[7] Life in the Clouds of Venus?

[8] Intelligent Life In the Universe: I. S. Shklovskii, Carl Sagan, Paula Fern: 9780440540564: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Cruscotto]

No aguardo, pois sendo confirmado, será uma revelação incrível.

Não vi nada disso em jornais, é muito relevante? Qual a implicância disso?

 

[Krion]

Não vi nada disso em jornais, é muito relevante? Qual a implicância disso?

É porque o "paper" oficial ainda não saiu, pelo que dizem (detalhei melhor no meu segundo post), vai ser publicado dia 14 na revista Nature:
"The paper will be published on September 14th, 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. The scientists will also hold a press conference via Zoom to present their findings."

Além de rolar uma tele conferencia ao vivo para discutir o achado (e sua veracidade) com diversos especialistas da área.
Tudo ainda esta num estágio inicial, tem muitas informações para serem avaliadas.

Mas a implicância seria a descoberta de VIDA fora da Terra. No caso na atmosfera de Vênus.
"Descobriram" uma substancia (Phosphine) na atmosfera de Vênus, que é muito pouco provável que tenha se "formado" naturalmente, por isso a suspeita de diversos "organismos" (provavelmente microscópicos) na atmosfera do planeta que estariam sintetizando a mesma.

"the volume of Phosphine observed was stunning. They ruled out minerals blown into the atmosphere, volcanism, lightning and other known sources as there is simply no process that could maintain this abundance. So much Phosphine was observed we could conclude that the atmosphere of Venus is “teaming with life”. "

(mas ainda tem um longo caminho para tudo ser comprovado cientificamente, mas isso justificaria uma (cara) missão à Venus, para uma sonda colher amostras de sua atmosfera, para aí sim confirmar a veracidade da descoberta)

 

[mfalan]

Fosfina é uma molécula simples, só porque na Terra tem origem biológica não quer dizer que tenha um processo igual lá em Venus. Parece outro alarme falso.

 

[Krion]

Fosfina é uma molécula simples, só porque na Terra tem origem biológica não quer dizer que tenha um processo igual lá em Venus. Parece outro alarme falso.

Depois de ler melhor todos os dados também penso isso. Ainda é muito cedo, resta é aguardar o "paper" a ser publicado para analisar melhor o estudo.
Só "colhendo" mesmo uma amostra da atmosfera do planeta para analisar para ter a certeza.
(Mas pelo menos se o estudo mostrado for promissor, vai incentivar uma missão de uma sonda mais moderna ao planeta)
Quando encontrar ele completo posto o mesmo aqui (ou a matéria da Nature)

 

[Krion]

 

[Rodrigo Zé do Cx Jr]

Mas que peido do sol hein!

 

[Krion]

Mas que peido do sol hein!

Aqui em video

 

[Krion]

No aguardo, pois sendo confirmado, será uma revelação incrível.

Para quem quiser acompanhar sobre os dados mencionados a respeito de "indícios" de vida na atmosfera de Vênus
(começou ao meio dia, horário de Brasília)

 

[Krion]

Mais alguns (MUITOS) detalhes dessa possível incrível descoberta, que pode mudar muitas coisas

Was life discovered in the clouds of Venus in 2020?

Brian Roemmele
·
September 13, 2020
Founder + Editor at Read Multiplex (2017–present)
“Was life discovered in the clouds of Venus in 2020?”

Yes, indeed as of September 13th, 2020 there was compelling and rather robust evidence suggested by Scientists at Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cardiff University and elsewhere, have observed what may be signs of life in the clouds of Venus, to be announced on September 14th, 2020.

The paper will be published on September 14th, 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. The scientists will also hold a press conference via Zoom to present their findings.

The findings were produced using the James Clark Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and the Atcama Large Millimeter Array in Chile.

Researcher Janusz Petkowski stated:


We will explore this new research and other supporting research here.

Specimen of an enhanced image of Venus.

I have been studying astrobiology since the 1970s and find this astonishing work to be the latest robust findings on the possibility of life in the atmosphere of Venus. This is perhaps one of humanity’s most important discoveries.



Specimen of my overly cautious Tweet.

Spectacular Research By Spectacular Scientists

Research scientists Sara Seager, Janusz J. Petkowski, Peter Gao, William Bains, Noelle C. Bryan, Sukrit Ranjan, Jane Greaves and others submitted a paper to the peer-reviewed academic journal Astrology [1] and it forms the original basis of the world changing announcement. I will present some findings from this earlier research for a few reasons.

I urge you to support these spectacular scientists and the Royal Astronomical Society by viewing the presentation directly:



Specimen of the Tweet for the September 14th, 2020 event.

The August 13th, 2020 paper:




Thus we have a academic research paper that suggests that dark patches in the atmosphere of Venus could be caused by light-absorbing bacteria. The planet's atmosphere is 96.5 percent carbon dioxide and approximately 3.5 percent nitrogen. The runaway greenhouse climate keeps surface temperatures hovering around 864 degrees Fahrenheit with the atmospheric pressures on Venus as high as pressures about kilometer deep in the oceans of Earth.

Mariner 2 became the first successful interplanetary mission in December 1962 when it collected data within 35,000 km of Venus. Other space probes studying the clouds of Venus have detected objects called "mode 3 particles”. These are particles in size that is comparable to bacteria. It is also clear their shape is non-spherical, suggesting that they are not simply droplets of liquid.

Life on Earth generally use of the carbonyl group, which consists of a carbon atom and an oxygen atom linked with a double bond: C=O. A carbonyl group behaves in such a manner in liquid water that it can be used to link organic molecules together. In concentrated sulfuric found in the atmosphere of Venus, another simple group of atoms behaves in a similar way called the alkene group of: C=C. Alkene group molecules would fit into the chemical profiles of the atmosphere of Venus and likely thrive.

Specimen of extremophiles.

Micro-organisms known as methanogens find oxygen essentially toxic. They actually prefer to use carbon dioxide – or other carbon-rich compounds, like carbon monoxide – and hydrogen gas to produce water and methane. This process also provides them with energy, and unlike photosynthesizing plants or algae, sunlight isn’t required. We tend to find methanogens inside deep-sea hydrothermal vents, within the Earth’s crust, and within the planet’s mantle. They don’t need to live in what we consider to be “normal” environments—they appear in so-called extreme environments. These are classified as extremophiles and they are found deep inside of volcanoes on Earth and perhaps even floating in our high atmosphere.

The new paper to be published In Nature on September 14th, 2020 will present a compelling case of a biosignature [2] in the Venusian atmosphere of Phosphine [3]. We will be hearing a great deal written about and talked about with regards to Phosphine. Many insights will likely fall into the camp of “this proves nothing”. Yet it is a very clear path to life and the authors suggest how in their papers.

Specimen of a proposed Phosphine molecule.

The Research On Venus Life

Phosphine is a gas that is produced most often via biological process of life. It has been known to be produced via non-biological methods. The conditions on Venus and the fcat that there are relatively high concentrations that would normally dissipate, the deviance supports the sources are continuous and highly probable to be from a biological process, e.g. life on Venus. Thus the researchers have concluded this is not an abiotic (non-biliogical) source of Phosphine but a biological source.

Of course science it about presenting empirical findings and forming a hypnosis, there very well could be an abiotic source but that alone would be an amazing discovery. However we must deploy Occam’s Razor and suggest the simplest explanation and the evidence suggests the simple explanation is biological sources, life.

The research team took over 6 months processing their new findings and were very reluctant to make a definitive paper as it would clearly establish a maverick position of life discovered outside of Earth. However they were convinced by robust supporting evidence and a cross section of peers.

With the Earth in the perfect position in the spring of 2020 they were able to capture a spectrograph of the correct wavelength backlit by the sun of the warmer clouds in the atmosphere of Venus.

The volume of Phosphine observed was stunning. They ruled out minerals blown into the atmosphere, volcanism, lightning and other known sources as there is simply no process that could maintain this abundance. So much Phosphine was observed we could conclude that the atmosphere of Venus is “teaming with life”.

Typically biological sources of Phosphine on Earth is produced by species of bacteria that do not absorb oxygen [4]. They absorb phosphate and hydrogen and expel Phosphine gas.

The “life zone” in the atmosphere of Venus is between 48 and 60 kilometers above the average planetary elevation. This region has an observed temperature of 20 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This is also precisely where the concentrations of Phosphine clouds have been observed. They are also associated with the dark matter mentioned in the August 2020 research paper. We can surmise that Ultraviolet light is begin “consumed” or otherwise absorbed by this proposed biological material.

One theory suggested by the authors of the papers is a gravity wave process that is a phenomena that can lift microbes in to the “life zone” of the atmosphere of Venus. The waves propagate over mountains and valleys and cause a vertical lift of very high force. This creates a sort of “circle of life” that allows for these proposed species to live in just the “life zone” of the planet.

Specimen of a novel process that could explain how “life” stays in the upper regions of Venus..

We should also not rule out far more complex life from the observations of Phosphine. It is quite possible we will observe life as large as a Whale on Earth quite happy suspended in the gravity waves of Venus.

I will not speculate about “intelligent life” on Venus but it is import to know Venus was nearly “earth-like” over 2 billion years ago and suffered an “earth shattering” event that may have reversed the rotation and inclination of the planet [6]. Venus may have had a shallow liquid-water ocean and habitable surface temperatures for up to 2 billion years of its early history, according to computer modeling of the planet’s ancient climate by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

This seems to have been a very large impact that literally changed the direction of the planet, although this meets with an abundance of skepticism.

We can be certain, that if there was life as we understand it on Venus when there was an impact of this magnitude, that likely caused the runaway green house effect and boiled off liquid water and oxygen, it likely ended at that moment.

Specimen image of rotations and inclinations of solar system planets.

With these discoveries we may have the last remnants of life from the planet. It is quite possible this adaptation was made sometime over the 2 billon years and has progressed to more complex life from this point.

Panspermia

It is also important to consider Panspermia [6]. This is an often discounted theory of how some life may have come about in the universe. Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe were influential proponents of panspermia.

Specimen artist rendering of comet transmitted life.

In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (containing carbon), which Wickramasinghe later proved to be correct.

Often lumped into a non-evolutionary or “religious” pseudo-science, there has been far more compelling evidence that we can detect the signs of bacterial life in comet tails and even interstellar dust.

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further contended that life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution.

Panspermia may also explain what we are observing in the atmosphere of Venus and perhaps other bodies in the solar system above the surface, on the surface, below the surface and in water or below ice.

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence

in 1967 Carl Sagan and Harold Morowitz authored a landmark paper [7] suggesting:

“Life in the Clouds of Venus?”

Also published in nature on September 16th, 1967 this paper was considered, overly speculative and “maverick”. It was one of many situation where Carl Sagan risked his reputation to publish what he knew to be very compelling research.


So convinced that life would be discovered in the universe, Carl published a book that contributed to him losing his job at Harvard University. Called “Intelligent Life In The Universe” [8] he co-authored it with Iosif Shklovskii.

Specimen of my original copy of “Intelligent life in the universe”.

Carl was advised to not publish by faculty at Harvard University and offered advice that he would damage his career. He published it non-the-less and it is one of the best books to look into the possibility of life in the universe from that epoch.

After losing his job he went on to Cornell University and to become one of the most well known popularizers of science and astronomy.

We will hear repeated by self appointed “internet debunkers” that “Extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence” for the next few months as more and more observations and empirical evidence mounts. It will also be ironic as this is Carl Sagan’s life work that he sacrificed a Harvard University job early in his career to support.

Carl never spoke much publicly about how this impacted his life, but he learned a hard lesson he would share privately, people, especially scientists will do almost anything other then confirm life outside of Earth. He created the phrase “Extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence” not to “debunk” anything, but to create an environment that fosters more study. No claims from a higher authority, but more research to confirm empirical observations.

In the years since his exceptional work from 1963–1967 on atmospheric life on Venus, we have had a tremendous amount of empirical work, just as Carl had asserted. His was a lonely trail in that epoch but today, we have reached nearly a preponderance of evidence, until we send a scooper probe to Venus, that we have come to discover life on another world. We are living in this historic moment in time and I want to present that when we have sent a probe to Venus and double confirm life, we name it after Carl Sagan, a hero that stood by his convictions, no matter what came.

These are extraordinary times and this research is just one small part of a torrent of new data that will be presented in this epoch. We much always remain skeptical but I also suggest to stay aware and stay curious, for you may miss one of the most important moments in human history.

Perhaps, we are not alone.

Perhaps, we have never been alone.

Perhaps, the abundance we see when we view the cosmos is as much an abundance of new life, as it is an abundance of billions of stars and planets.

Perhaps, we will be the first to know this definitively.

[1] The Venusian Lower Atmosphere Haze as a Depot for Desiccated Microbial Life: A Proposed Life Cycle for Persistence of the Venusian Aerial Biosphere

[2] Biosignature - Wikipedia

[3] Phosphine - Wikipedia

[4] Anaerobic organism - Wikipedia

[5] Panspermia - Wikipedia

[5] Venus May Once Have Been Habitable

[7] Life in the Clouds of Venus?

[8] Intelligent Life In the Universe: I. S. Shklovskii, Carl Sagan, Paula Fern: 9780440540564: Amazon.com: Books

Um video explicativo

 

[Krion]

Matéria que acaba de ser publicada no SETI Institute


Life on Venus?

Sep 14, 2020

Tags: Solar System

By Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer
It could be atmospheric chemistry. Or pollution from unseen volcanoes. But there’s a chance – a not insignificant chance – that scientists have made the first clear discovery of life beyond Earth.

Researchers at Cardiff University and MIT, together with colleagues from both British and Asian universities, have just published a paper in the journal Nature in which they claim to have found a smelly, toxic gas – phosphine – high in the thick clouds of the Venusian atmosphere. On Earth, phosphine is produced by certain types of bacteria.

This discovery was unexpected, and a potential game changer. The presence of airborne phosphine might be likened to stumbling upon scat in the desert, a signal that life is in the neighborhood.

If indeed there are living organisms floating in the dense air of Venus, it would enormously strengthen the argument that life is not a rarity, a cosmic miracle, but is as common as freckles.

For decades, scientists have pursued life in space in three ways. One is to simply find it, the underlying motivation for sending many of the rovers that crawl across Mars. A second is to discover that another world houses intelligent beings by tuning in their radio transmissions. A third scheme – less well known – is to use telescopes to examine the atmospheres of planets and moons for biomarkers: gasses produced by life.

A prime example of a biomarker is the oxygen in our own air, the exhaust gas of the photosynthetic life that thrives here. A second is the methane that seems to occasionally waft through the thin air of Mars. Methane, as anyone unfortune enough to live near a garbage dump knows, is a breakdown product of some bacteria.

Lamentably, bacteria are not the only manufacturers of methane. It can also be produced by geological processes. Methane might mean life on Mars, but it might not.

What makes the discovery of phosphine in Venus’ air so compelling is that the researchers have racked their brains trying to come up with ways to explain its presence short of invoking biology. They’ve considered the likelihood of weird chemical processes in the atmosphere that could produce it, or the possibility that it was spewed out of volcanoes below. Even the reactions caused by meteors that streak through the clouds or the chemical effects of lightning were considered. But the scientists couldn’t find a plausible non-biological explanation.

Nonetheless, they remain cautious. History is littered with claims of extraterrestrial biology that later proved suspect or just plain wrong, from the canals on Mars to the squiggly, microscopic features seen in a martian meteorite. Everyone who’s claimed to have established the existence of life elsewhere has been seriously challenged. The strong consensus of science is that our world is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist. To prove otherwise is a tantalizing goal, but the proof needs to be indisputable.

So, caution reigns. Sara Seager, an MIT professor of physics and planetary science and a member of the research team, put it this way. “There could be two explanations. One that there is some unknown chemical process that could somehow produce the phosphine. The second is that … there’s life.”

But Venusian life? Yes, Venus has long been called Earth’s twin, primarily because the two planets are the same size. But it’s not the favored twin: spacecraft have revealed a baked landscape, with round-the-clock temperatures of 900 degrees Fahrenheit. For decades scientists assumed Venus was a sterile hell, and largely ignored it in favor of Mars or several of the water-rich moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

But not all scientists. Planetary astronomer David Grinspoon, of the Planetary Science Institute, has persistently championed the idea of paying greater attention to Venus. He’s pointed out that at an altitude of 30 miles above the surface, the cloud temperatures drop to roughly the same as a Fall day in New York. The idea that some microbes could be floating in these extraordinarily dense and temperate clouds is not beyond the pale. Such organisms could be the left-overs from simple life that may have been spawned during the billions of years that Venus had oceans, vast seas that eventually boiled away. They would be the microscopic refugees from a world that slowly went bad.

Grinspoon reacts to the phosphine discovery by saying that it “will force people to take seriously the plausibility of a cloud biosphere on Venus.”

If past is prologue, the excitement following the discovery of this malodorous gas will give way to an explanation that doesn’t depend on the presence of life. After all, nature is exceedingly adept at cooking up conditions and compounds that humans haven’t foreseen. If that happens, what is now an exciting discovery will become one that’s merely interesting.

But we can’t rule out the more dramatic outcome – the possibility that, at long last, we’ve proven that we have company in the cosmos. Yes, they’re microscopic and live an incomprehensively dull existence. But unlike everything else we’ve yet found in the heavens, they’re alive.

 

[Krion]

Da NASA




Announcement About Research on Venus's Chemistry

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet-light image of the planet Venus, taken on Jan. 24 1995, shows the planet's cloud tops at distance of 70.6 million miles (113.6 million kilometers) from Earth.
Credits: NASA/ESA/Space Telescope Science Institute

A paper about chemistry on Venus was published today in Nature Astronomy. NASA was not involved in the research and cannot comment directly on the findings; however, we trust in the scientific peer review process and look forward to the robust discussion that will follow its publication.
NASA has an extensive astrobiology program that searches for life in many different ways across the solar system and beyond. Over the past two decades, we’ve made new discoveries that collectively imply a significant increase of the likelihood to find life elsewhere.
As with an increasing number of planetary bodies, Venus is proving to be an exciting place of discovery, though it had not been a significant part of the search for life because of its extreme temperatures, atmospheric composition and other factors. Two of the next four candidate missions for NASA’s Discovery Program are focused on Venus, as is Europe’s EnVision mission, in which NASA is a partner. Venus also is a planetary destination we can reach with smaller missions.
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, and distraction of life in the universe. To learn more about Astrobiology at NASA, visit: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov
Last Updated: Sept. 14, 2020
Editor: Brian Dunbar

 

[Krion]

Para quem quiser acompanhar sobre os dados mencionados a respeito de "indícios" de vida na atmosfera de Vênus
(começou ao meio dia, horário de Brasília)

Um resumo rápido pelo que pude "pescar" ate agora acompanhando o video ao vivo (muitos detalhes, a maioria bem técnicos)
Os dados são muito promissores, não da pra afirmar "ainda" com 100% de certeza que a substancia (phosphine) encontrada na atmosfera (em várias regiões) foi criada por organismos vivos, mas os indícios não podem (nem devem) ser descartados.
Com posse desses novos dados, uma nova missão a Vênus (algumas já estão sendo planejadas pela Rússia, Japão, Europa e Nasa) poderia dar uma confirmação final, com um estudo mais acurado de uma sonda analisando diretamente a atmosfera.

E o estudo poder usado como "ponte" para analisar outros planetas também.

O paper em si, pelo que falaram é bem detalhado (mais de 100 pags), logo vai estar disponível para o público.

Tudo que conseguir pegar sobre o assunto vou postando aqui.
Quem quiser pode ficar acompanhando para mais detalhes a:
Royal Astronomical Society
@RoyalAstroSoc

 

[Krion]

Mias um video sobre o assunto (desta vez do "Royal Observatory Greenwich")

Possible signs of life in Venus’ clouds

By Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and co-author of the recent discovery of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, ‘Phosphine Gas in the Cloud Decks of Venus’, in Nature Astronomy
Check out the video below for a behind the scenes chat between Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder and the Principal Investigator of the project, Professor Jane Greaves.
They talk about what the team originally set out to do, what the next steps are for understanding Venus and its possibility for life, and the curious link between phosphine and penguins.




The search for life on Venus

In the past, scientists thought that Venus was very like Earth because of its similar size and distance from the Sun.


This idea was shattered in the 1960s when the Mariner 2 spacecraft uncovered Venus’ hostile environment. Thick, yellowish clouds, made out of sulphuric acid, surround the planet and trap heat on its surface. This makes Venus the hottest planet in the Solar System, with temperature close to 500 degrees Celsius.


The pressures on the surface are around 90 times greater than those of the Earth and are high enough to crush the human body.


Even though the conditions on the surface of the planet are harsh, the temperatures are milder at higher altitudes, as well as the pressure being more similar to Earth’s.


Some scientists have hypothesised that microorganisms or other types of aerial life may exist in the upper atmosphere, high in Venus’ clouds.

Venus Colour © Michel Leost


What is Phosphine?

Phosphine is a gas made from phosphorus and hydrogen.


It can be found in gas-giant planets in our Solar System, like Jupiter and Saturn, produced by chemical reactions occurring deep inside these planets.


However, it is more difficult to form this gas in the atmospheres of rocky planets in our Solar System, as they experience lower temperatures and pressures than the gas-giants.


Phosphine gas is found on Earth, but it is mainly a product of life, coming either from human industrial activity or from microbes.


The discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus could, therefore, point to life in the upper atmosphere of the planet.

How was the phosphine gas found?

Phosphine was observed in Venus’ atmosphere by two independent telescopes, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) in Chile.


Looking like large satellite dishes, both telescopes operate in longer wavelengths than the human eye can see.


The two telescopes observed phosphine in absorption. This means that a small amount of sunlight reflecting off Venus’ clouds was absorbed by phosphine gas in its atmosphere.

Daytime Venus © Thea Hutchinson


What does this mean?

The amount of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus is relatively low - only twenty molecules in every billion are phosphine.


However, models in this study show that natural chemical processes, from things like sunlight, volcanoes or lightning on Venus, cannot explain the phosphine gas in Venus’ clouds.


The team expect that phosphine comes from either an unknown non-biological process on the planet or from life in the atmosphere.

Venus Phase Evolution © Roger Hutchinson


What next?

There are many unknowns at this point and more investigation must be done before the presence of life can be confirmed on Venus. For instance, studying the atmosphere directly with spacecraft.


Additionally, the clouds surrounding Venus are nearly entirely made up of sulphuric acid and create conditions too harsh for any known form of life on Earth.


Even so, this is an exciting time for astronomy, in particular for understanding our Solar System and the possibilities for life in other places.


If life has formed on Venus independently from Earth, then it is likely that life will be far more common than previously imagined.


With over 4000 detected exoplanets - planets found outside our Solar System - and, no doubt, many more that astronomers have yet to detect, the quest to find life elsewhere in the Universe has reached a compelling new stage.

 

[Vim do Futuro]

A gente esperando uma sonda chegar em Europa, Encelado ou outra lua, e acaba Vênus roubando a cena.
Vou rir muito dos "vidaplanistas".

 

[Krion]

Vídeo completo do "evento" da "Royal Astronomical Society"

Venus phosphine detection factsheet


Artist's impression of Venus, with an inset showing a representation of the phosphine molecules detected in the high cloud decks.
Credit
ESO / M. Kornmesser / L. Calçada & NASA / JPL / Caltech
Licence type
Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

On 14 September 2020, astronomers announced the detection of phosphine, a potential biomarker, in the atmosphere of Venus. Here are ten essential facts about the discovery:

What has been discovered?
A molecule called phosphine has been detected in the atmosphere of the planet Venus.

Why is it interesting?
The amount of phosphine that has been detected is relatively large. On Earth, phosphine can result from natural processes such as lightning and volcanic activity, but only in small amounts. The only known processes that produce phosphine on Earth in similar quantities are biological in origin.

Does that mean there is life on Venus?
No. What's exciting is that this is the first detection of a possible sign of life for which we have no plausible alternative explanation. That doesn't mean that there definitely is life, as we could be missing some other method of producing phosphine in the required amounts, but it's a very exciting possibility which needs more investigation.

How was it detected?
Observations of the light passing through the atmosphere of Venus were made using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. Atoms and molecules absorb light at very specific and unique wavelengths, and the resulting 'absorption spectrum’ revealed a gap at the wavelength of phosphine. This implied that phosphine was present, and absorbing light as it passed through the atmosphere.

Are you sure it’s phosphine?
Yes – confirmation was obtained by making further observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. This confirmed the initial detection, and no other known molecule can explain the observed features.

What else could have produced it?
Processes such as lightning or volcanic activity can produce small amounts of phosphine on Earth. The molecule can also be delivered by meteorites, or generated by exotic processes such as interaction with the solar wind. However these only produce very small amounts, far less than would be necessary to explain the observations.

Could it just be contamination from earlier probes to Venus?
A series of probes were sent to Venus during the 60s, 70s and 80s. Some of those launched probes into the atmosphere and even landed craft safely on the surface. The possibility of contamination is there, but it is highly unlikely they could produce the amount of phosphine we see in these observations. Very few organisms on Earth produce phosphine, and very few if any are capable of surviving in the extreme conditions in the Venusian cloud decks. This makes it highly unlikely that this is biological contamination from Earth.

What further research would be needed to confirm life or not?
The best way of doing this would be to directly detect life itself. Ultimately this would involve re-visiting Venus with probes, which would make measurements in the planet’s atmosphere, and potentially bring back samples to Earth for further analysis.

Might there be similar signs of life on Mars or Mercury?
Mercury has no atmosphere, and is simultaneously very hot (on the side facing the Sun) and very cold (on the side facing away). Life here is highly unlikely. Life on Mars is a possibility, at least historically, because it is now fairly clear that Mars went through a warm wet period. The search for signs of life on Mars is already under way.

Could there be life on Jupiter?
Jupiter is very different since it is a gas giant planet whose atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen, rather than carbon dioxide. This makes life in the atmosphere of Jupiter highly unlikely. However the moons of Jupiter, such as Europa and Ganymede, have liquid water oceans beneath ice caps kilometres thick, and so life there is more of a possibility.






Maiores detalhes que foram postados após a exibição do vídeo

Hints of life on Venus

Spoiler: detalhes aqui

An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments.

Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer a home for microbes – floating free of the scorching surface, but still needing to tolerate very high acidity. The detection of phosphine molecules, which consist of hydrogen and phosphorus, could point to this extra-terrestrial ‘aerial’ life. The new discovery is described in a paper in Nature Astronomy.

The team first used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii to detect the phosphine, and were then awarded time to follow up their discovery with 45 telescopes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. Both facilities observed Venus at a wavelength of about 1 millimetre, much longer than the human eye can see – only telescopes at high altitude can detect this wavelength effectively.

Professor Greaves says, “This was an experiment made out of pure curiosity, really – taking advantage of JCMT’s powerful technology, and thinking about future instruments. I thought we’d just be able to rule out extreme scenarios, like the clouds being stuffed full of organisms. When we got the first hints of phosphine in Venus’ spectrum, it was a shock!”

Naturally cautious about the initial findings, Greaves and her team were delighted to get three hours of time with the more sensitive ALMA observatory. Bad weather added a frustrating delay, but after six months of data processing, the discovery was confirmed.

Team member Dr Anita Richards, of the UK ALMA Regional Centre and the University of Manchester, adds: “To our great relief, the conditions were good at ALMA for follow-up observations while Venus was at a suitable angle to Earth. Processing the data was tricky, though, as ALMA isn’t usually looking for very subtle effects in very bright objects like Venus.”

Greaves adds: “In the end, we found that both observatories had seen the same thing – faint absorption at the right wavelength to be phosphine gas, where the molecules are backlit by the warmer clouds below.”

Professor Hideo Sagawa of Kyoto Sangyo University then used his models for the Venusian atmosphere to interpret the data, finding that phosphine is present but scarce – only about twenty molecules in every billion.

The astronomers then ran calculations to see if the phosphine could come from natural processes on Venus. They caution that some information is lacking – in fact, the only other study of phosphorus on Venus came from one lander experiment, carried by the Soviet Vega 2 mission in 1985.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Dr William Bains led the work on assessing natural ways to make phosphine. Some ideas included sunlight, minerals blown upwards from the surface, volcanoes, or lightning, but none of these could make anywhere near enough of it. Natural sources were found to make at most one ten thousandth of the amount of phosphine that the telescopes saw.

To create the observed quantity of phosphine on Venus, terrestrial organisms would only need to work at about 10% of their maximum productivity, according to calculations by Dr Paul Rimmer of Cambridge University. Any microbes on Venus will likely be very different to their Earth cousins though, to survive in hyper-acidic conditions.

Earth bacteria can absorb phosphate minerals, add hydrogen, and ultimately expel phosphine gas. It costs them energy to do this, so why they do it is not clear. The phosphine could be just a waste product, but other scientists have suggested purposes like warding off rival bacteria.

Another MIT team-member, Dr Clara Sousa Silva, was also thinking about searching for phosphine as a ‘biosignature’ gas of non-oxygen-using life on planets around other stars, because normal chemistry makes so little of it.

She comments: “Finding phosphine on Venus was an unexpected bonus! The discovery raises many questions, such as how any organisms could survive. On Earth, some microbes can cope with up to about 5% of acid in their environment – but the clouds of Venus are almost entirely made of acid.”

Other possible biosignatures in the Solar System may exist, like methane on Mars and water venting from the icy moons Europa and Enceladus. On Venus, it has been suggested that dark streaks where ultraviolet light is absorbed could come from colonies of microbes. The Akatsuki spacecraft, launched by the Japanese space agency JAXA, is currently mapping these dark streaks to understand more about this “unknown ultraviolet absorber”.

The team believes their discovery is significant because they can rule out many alternative ways to make phosphine, but they acknowledge that confirming the presence of “life” needs a lot more work. Although the high clouds of Venus have temperatures up to a pleasant 30 degrees centigrade, they are incredibly acidic – around 90% sulphuric acid – posing major issues for microbes to survive there.

Professor Sara Seager and Dr Janusz Petkowski, also both at MIT, are investigating how microbes could shield themselves inside droplets.
The team are now eagerly awaiting more telescope time, for example to establish whether the phosphine is in a relatively temperate part of the clouds, and to look for other gases associated with life. New space missions could also travel to our neighbouring planet, and sample the clouds in situ to further search for signs of life.

Professor Emma Bunce, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, congratulated the team on their work:
“A key question in science is whether life exists beyond Earth, and the discovery by Professor Jane Greaves and her team is a key step forward in that quest. I’m particularly delighted to see UK scientists leading such an important breakthrough – something that makes a strong case for a return space mission to Venus.”
Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:
"Venus has for decades captured the imagination of scientists and astronomers across the world.”
“This discovery is immensely exciting, helping us increase our understanding of the universe and even whether there could be life on Venus. I am incredibly proud that this fascinating detection was led by some of the UK’s leading scientists and engineers using state of the art facilities built on our own soil.”


Media resources

Phosphine detection FAQ sheet

Synthesized false colour image of Venus, using 283-nm and 365-nm band images taken by the Venus Ultraviolet Imager (UVI).
JAXA / ISAS / Akatsuki Project Team
Licence type
Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), situated close to the summit of Maunakea, Hawaii, is the largest telescope in the world specifically designed to observe at submillimetre wavelengths. The telescope is used to study objects ranging from our Solar System and distant galaxies, to interstellar and circumstellar dust and gas.
Will Montgomerie / EAO / JCMT
Licence type
Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Image of Venus, observed in the 365nm waveband by the Venus Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on board the Akatsuki probe. The observations were made on 6 May 2016, when the spacecraft saw the whole planet illuminated.
J. Greaves / Cardiff University
Licence type
Attribution (CC BY 4.0)



This animation shows an artist's impression of our Solar System neighbour Venus, where scientists have confirmed the detection of phosphine molecules (represented in the inset towards the end of the video). The molecules were detected in the Venusian high clouds in data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Astronomers have speculated for decades that life could exist in Venus’s high clouds, and the detection of phosphine could point to such extra-terrestrial “aerial” life.
Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / L. Calçada & NASA / JPL / Caltech

Further information
The new work appears in “Phosphine Gas in the Cloud Decks of Venus”, Jane S. Greaves, Anita M. S. Richards, William Bains, Paul Rimmer, Hideo Sagawa, David L. Clements, Sara Seager, Janusz J. Petkowski, Clara Sousa-Silva, Sukrit Ranjan, Emily Drabek-Maunder, Helen J. Fraser, Annabel Cartwright, Ingo Mueller-Wodarg, Zhuchang Zhan, Per Friberg, Iain Coulson, E’lisa Lee and Jim Hoge, Nature Astronomy (2020).
A copy of the paper is available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4

Notes for editors
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,400 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.
In 2020 the RAS is 200 years old. The Society is celebrating its bicentennial anniversary with a series of events around the UK, including public lectures, exhibitions, an organ recital, a pop-up planetarium, and the culmination of the RAS 200: Sky & Earth project.
Follow the RAS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
Subscribe to the RAS Supermassive Podcast

With a diameter of 15m (50 feet) the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is the largest single dish astronomical telescope in the world designed specifically to operate in the submillimetre wavelength region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The JCMT is used to study our Solar System, interstellar and circumstellar dust and gas, evolved stars, and distant galaxies. It is situated in the science reserve of Maunakea, Hawai`i, at an altitude of 4092m (13,425 feet). The JCMT is operated by the East Asian Observatory on behalf of NAOJ; ASIAA; KASI; CAMS as well as the National Key R&D Program of China. Additional funding support is provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and participating universities in the UK and Canada.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

 

[Scorpion]

Esse final de semana olhei um pouco para o céu a noite.
Uma duvida..... todas as estrelas que temos visão a olho nú, todas estão dentro da nossa galaxia?

 

[Krion]

Consegui o link da matéria completa que acaba de ser publicada pela NATURE, voltada para quem tem interesse em se aprofundar no assunto (linguagem bem técnica)

Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus

• Abstract
  Measurements of trace gases in planetary atmospheres help us explore chemical conditions different to those on Earth. Our nearest neighbour, Venus, has cloud decks that are temperate but hyperacidic. Here we report the apparent presence of phosphine (PH3) gas in Venus’s atmosphere, where any phosphorus should be in oxidized forms. Single-line millimetre-waveband spectral detections (quality up to ~15σ) from the JCMT and ALMA telescopes have no other plausible identification. Atmospheric PH3 at ~20 ppb abundance is inferred. The presence of PH3 is unexplained after exhaustive study of steady-state chemistry and photochemical pathways, with no currently known abiotic production routes in Venus’s atmosphere, clouds, surface and subsurface, or from lightning, volcanic or meteoritic delivery. PH3 could originate from unknown photochemistry or geochemistry, or, by analogy with biological production of PH3 on Earth, from the presence of life. Other PH3 spectral features should be sought, while in situ cloud and surface sampling could examine sources of this gas.

PDF do artigo completo AQUI
(parece que vai ficar disponível gratuitamente por alguns dias)

Spoiler: Supplementary information

Supplementary Information
Supplementary discussion, Tables 1–3 and refs. 63–99.

Supplementary Software 1
The file is a sequence of commands in a linux shell script that process the JCMT spectra obtainable from the public archive. Reference name is base4_filter9_poly_vshift.sh.

Supplementary Software 2
The file is a Python script used for initial calibration to produce the ALMA data cubes we analysed. Reference name is uid___A002_Xd90607_X10526.ms.scriptForCalibration33.py.

Supplementary Software 3
The file is a Python script used for initial calibration to produce the ALMA data cubes we analysed. Reference name is uid___A002_Xd90607_X10f75.ms.scriptForCalibration33.py.

Supplementary Software 4
The file is a Python script used in imaging the ALMA data cubes. Reference name is Venus_imaging.py.

Source data
Source Data Fig. 1
Spectrum of Fig. 1b.

Source Data Fig. 2
Spectra of Fig. 2a,b.

Rights and permissions
Reprints and Permissions

 

[trevz]

Esse final de semana olhei um pouco para o céu a noite.
Uma duvida..... todas as estrelas que temos visão a olho nú, todas estão dentro da nossa galaxia?

Sim, porém em alguns lugares do planeta conseguimos ver outras 3 galáxias a olho nu.

Mas estrelas mesmo todas as que vemos a olho nú são daqui.

Best estimates under ideal conditions predict there are approximately 9000 stars visible to naked eye. But remember that there are both Northern and Southern hemispheres. Therefore, only half this amount would be visible at one certain location.

We can conclude that under perfect conditions, you could see ~ 4500 stars with the naked eye. If there are roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, then we would only see ~0.0000045% of the stars in our galaxy.

 

[Krion]

Uma boa análise sobre o assunto para "leigos" feita pelo Dr James O' Donoghue
(Planetary Astronomer @JAXA_en, previously @nasa @BU_Tweets @uniofleicester. Observer of Jupiter & Saturn. Amateur animator)

https://twitter.com/physicsJ

So, do the clouds of Venus harbour life?

(tradução via twitter web app)

Então, as nuvens de Vênus abrigam vida? O artigo divulgado hoje relata a descoberta de Fosfina em Vênus. A fosfina pode ser produzida * por vida * como na Terra ou * sem vida * como nas atmosferas de Júpiter e Saturno (encontradas na década de 1970). 1/7 Imagem: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic

Assim que a Fosfina foi encontrada, eles queriam saber de onde vinha, que cadeia de reações químicas levou à sua produção? Depois de incluir tudo o que * atualmente * sabemos sobre química e física em Vênus em modelos da atmosfera, eles não conseguiram encontrar uma maneira de fazer isso. 2/7

Outro mecanismo de produção de Fosfina, eles escrevem, é: "por analogia com a produção biológica de fosfina na Terra [...] a partir da presença de vida." 3/7 Essa é a linha de texto mais legal que li em um jornal nos últimos anos!

Por processo de eliminação, duas incógnitas permanecem 1. existem processos químicos ou físicos desconhecidos em Vênus capazes de produzir Fosfina 2. a vida está produzindo Fosfina porque o faz na Terra A maioria das pessoas não está dando a esses dois pesos iguais, mas tudo bem ... 4/7

... encontrar vida em outro lugar do universo seria uma das coisas mais profundas para mudar o mundo. Qualquer fragmento de esperança, qualquer indício de vida, deve ser rastreado com determinação obstinada! A Fosfina foi encontrada a ~ 50km acima da superfície de Vênus, as temperaturas são de 20 ° C ... 5/7

... as pressões são iguais às da Terra ao nível do mar, mas 90% do ambiente é ÁCIDO! Se alguma coisa está morando lá, é muito forte. Se eu atribuísse uma% à vida na nuvem em Vênus, daria a ela uma chance de 10%. Parece baixo, mas isso é muito alto para mim: sou pessimista sobre essas coisas. 6/7

Os autores do artigo, do jornal e da RAS não venderam isso em excesso, na minha opinião, mas muitos veículos de notícias veicularão "vida em Vênus" (veja o tópico 4/7 sobre ponderação!). Isso é totalmente digno de nossa atenção e uma missão. Precisamos conseguir uma sonda de balão ali! 7/7