COSMOS MAGAZINE - A new paper argues that the search for life outside our planet could be aided by looking in an unexpected place: the extremely hot, toxic planet Venus.
Venus is uninhabitable. It’s like our planet’s evil twin, with a diameter only 5% smaller than Earth’s.
But the average surface temperature on Venus is 464°C – high enough to melt lead. Its surface is dotted with lava-spewing volcanoes. It’s “runaway greenhouse effect” is caused by a toxic atmosphere of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid. Atmospheric pressure on the planet’s surface is 90 times higher than sea level on Earth – it’s the equivalent of been a kilometre under water.
So, how can this hostile planet help scientists find extraterrestrial life, which is what is argued in a paper published in Nature Astronomy.
“We often assume that Earth is the model of habitability, but if you consider this planet in isolation, we don’t know where the boundaries and limitations are,” says first author Stephen Kane, a University of California, Riverside astrophysicist. “Venus gives us that.”