4.7 Article

Venus' Mass Spectra Show Signs of Disequilibria in the Middle Clouds

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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
卷 48, 期 7, 页码 -

出版社

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091327

关键词

disequilibria; habitability; mass spectrometry; nitrite; phosphine; Venus

资金

  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences [NNH18ZDA001N]
  2. NASA [NNX16AC79G]
  3. NASA Astrobiology Program through Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS)
  4. NASA Habitable Worlds Program
  5. GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration (SEEC) - NASA Planetary Science Division's Internal Scientist Funding Model
  6. Genome Sciences Training Program at University of Wisconsin, Madison
  7. NASA [907171, NNX16AC79G] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER

向作者/读者索取更多资源

A re-examination of mass spectral data from the Pioneer Venus Large Probe Neutral Mass Spectrometer suggests redox disequilibria in Venus' middle clouds, revealing the presence of reducing power in the clouds and the potential for yet-to-be-discovered chemistries. Assignments to the data indicate a potential signature of anaerobic phosphorus metabolism, an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis, and major constituents of the nitrogen cycle in Venus' clouds.
We present a re-examination of mass spectral data obtained from the Pioneer Venus Large Probe Neutral Mass Spectrometer. Our interpretations of differing trace chemical species are suggestive of redox disequilibria in Venus' middle clouds. Assignments to the data (at 51.3 km) include phosphine, hydrogen sulfide, nitrous acid, nitric acid, carbon monoxide, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen cyanide, ethane, and potentially ammonia, chlorous acid, and several tentative PxOy species. All parent ions were predicated upon assignment of corresponding fragmentation products, isotopologues, and atomic species. The data reveal parent ions at varying oxidation states, implying the presence of reducing power in the clouds, and illuminating the potential for chemistries yet to be discovered. When considering the hypothetical habitability of Venus' clouds, the assignments reveal a potential signature of anaerobic phosphorus metabolism (phosphine), an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis (nitrite), and major constituents of the nitrogen cycle (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and N-2).

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