¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 September 15 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Biomarker Phosphine Discovered in the Atmosphere of Venus Image Credit: [3]ISAS, [4]JAXA, [5]Akatsuki; Processing: [6]Meli thev Explanation: Could there be life floating in the atmosphere of Venus? Although [7]Earth's planetary neighbor has a surface considered too extreme for any known lifeform, Venus' upper atmosphere may be sufficiently mild for tiny airborne [8]microbes. This usually disfavored prospect took an [9]unexpected upturn yesterday with the announcement of the [10]discovery of Venusian phosphine. The chemical [11]phosphine (PH3) is a considered a [12]biomarker because it seems so hard to create from routine chemical processes thought to occur on or around a [13]rocky world such as [14]Venus -- but it is known to be created by [15]microbial life on Earth. The [16]featured image of Venus and its thick clouds was taken in two bands of [17]ultraviolet light by the Venus-orbing [18]Akatsuki, a [19]Japanese robotic satellite that has been orbiting the cloud-shrouded world since 2015. The [20]phosphine [21]finding, if confirmed, may set off renewed interest in searching for other indications of life floating high in the atmosphere of [22]our Solar System's second planet [23]out from the Sun. Experts Debate: [24]How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life? Tomorrow's picture: asteroid ejection __________________________________________________________________ [25]< | [26]Archive | [27]Submissions | [28]Index | [29]Search | [30]Calendar | [31]RSS | [32]Education | [33]About APOD | [34]Discuss | [35]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell ([39]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [40]Specific rights apply. [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC & [45]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2009/VenusClouds_Akatzuki_960.jpg 3. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/about/what/index.shtml 4. http://www.jaxa.jp/about/index_e.html 5. https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sas/planet_c/ 6. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Meli_thev 7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/ 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism 9. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/12/e1/1112e1c4d14fe99f59c4918658ce91d9.jpg 10. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphine 12. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/129/detecting-biomarkers-on-faraway-exoplanets/ 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_terrestrial_exoplanet_candidates 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200603.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090830.html 16. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_view_uvi_Venus_(Akatsuki).jpg 17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akatsuki_(spacecraft) 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan 20. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/science/venus-life-clouds.html 21. https://www.foxnews.com/science/venus-clouds-potential-alien-life 22. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/ 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180204.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/debate/debate100th.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200914.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 34. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200915 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200916.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 45. http://www.mtu.edu/