Credit: UNSW Sydney
The search for life on other planets has received a major boost after scientists revealed the spectral signatures of almost 1000 atmospheric molecules that may be involved in the production or consumption of phosphine, a study led by UNSW Sydney revealed.
Scientists have long conjectured that phosphine - a chemical compound made of one phosphorous atom surrounded by three hydrogen atoms (PH3) - may indicate evidence of life if found in the atmospheres of small rocky planets like our own, where it is produced by the biological activity of bacteria.
So when an international team of scientists last year claimed to have detected phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, it raised the tantalising prospect of the first evidence of life on another planet - albeit the primitive, single-celled variety.
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IMAGE: A flake of red peels away from Jupiter s Great Red Spot during an encounter with a smaller anticyclone, as seen by the Juno spacecraft s high resolution JunoCam on 12 February. view more
Credit: AGU/Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
WASHINGTON The stormy, centuries-old maelstrom of Jupiter s Great Red Spot was shaken but not destroyed by a series of anticyclones that crashed into it over the past few years.
The smaller storms cause chunks of red clouds to flake off, shrinking the larger storm in the process. But the new study found that these disruptions are superficial. They are visible to us, but they are only skin deep on the Red Spot, not affecting its full depth.
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VIDEO: A study conducted by researchers from the Laboratory for Planetary and Atmospheric Physics of the University of Liege, shows for the first time global views of a dawn storm, a. view more
Credit: @University of Liège
The storms, which consist of brightenings and broadenings of the dawn flank of an oval of auroral activity that encircles Jupiter s poles, evolve in a pattern surprisingly reminiscent of familiar surges in the aurora that undulate across Earth s polar skies, called auroral substorms, according to the authors.
The new study is the first to track the storms from their birth on the nightside of the giant planet through their full evolution. It was published today in
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IMAGE: Interior water ocean worlds like Saturn s moon, Enceladus, are prevalent throughout the universe. New research from Southwest Research Institute suggests that layers of rock and ice may shield life within. view more
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute
SAN ANTONIO March 16, 2021 One of the most profound discoveries in planetary science over the past 25 years is that worlds with oceans beneath layers of rock and ice are common in our solar system. Such worlds include the icy satellites of the giant planets, like Europa, Titan and Enceladus, and distant planets like Pluto.
In a report presented at the 52nd annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 52) this week, Southwest Research Institute planetary scientist S. Alan Stern writes that the prevalence of interior water ocean worlds (IWOWs) in our solar system suggests they may be prevalent in other star systems as well, vastly expanding the conditions for planetary habitabil
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IMAGE: An illustration of early Earth, as it would have looked around 4 billion years ago view more
Credit: Lucy Entwisle
Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, geologists say.
Minerals delivered to Earth in meteorites more than 4 billion years ago have long been advocated as key ingredients for the development of life on our planet.
Scientists believed minimal amounts of these minerals were also brought to early Earth through billions of lightning strikes.
But now researchers from the University of Leeds have established that lightning strikes were just as significant as meteorites in performing this essential function and allowing life to manifest.