January 29, 2021

The night side of Venus seen by the Akatsuki space probe (Image courtesy JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic)

An article accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports research that offers an alternative explanation to the presence of phosphine on Venus. A team of researchers used a robust model of the conditions in Venus’s atmosphere reanalyzing the data that led to the conclusion that there was phosphine. The new conclusion is that the data are consistent with the presence of sulfur dioxide.