SPACE — Even in our cosmic backyard, the solar system, there are still many questions waiting to be answered. On Venus there are formations similar to volcanoes, but it is not known whether they are active. The surface of Mars suggests that there was once a vast ocean, but how it disappeared is still unclear.
On the other hand, the recent detection of chemical compounds that may indicate biological activity on Mars and Venus (biosignatures), makes the search for life beyond Earth challenging. The answer may lie in analyzing the light that reaches us from these planets, through the ‘fingerprints’ or traces left by molecules in the spectrum of that light.
In a study currently published in Atmospheric Journalresearchers from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) University of Lisbon, Portugal, compared simulations obtained through the planetary spectrum simulator, the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG), with observations of infrared light from the planets Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
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Using PSG developed by NASA, the team was able to explain the results of several observations. They concluded that this simulator is an effective tool for studying the abundance of chemical compounds present in small quantities in the Martian atmosphere.
One of the chemical compounds analyzed, methane, can come from biological activities and geological processes. That’s why, its elusive existence on Mars. Its existence was detected by the Mars Express spacecraft, but was not detected by the ExoMars TGO spacecraft, thus making it a mystery.
“By varying the simulation parameters, we can explain detection and non-detection of methane on Mars and understand the conditions and locations where it occurs. This is an important step towards clarifying the relationship between methane on Mars and the possibility of life,” said Pedro Machado, study co-author. this.
Another unknown on the red planet, which is also of great interest to the scientific field of the search for extraterrestrial life (astrobiology), is the fate of much of its water. Evidence suggests water once flowed abundantly on the planet, and much of the northern plains was once a vast ocean. In fact today, Mars is an icy desert.
“Knowing the ratio between the two hydrogen variants, the isotopes of deuterium and simple hydrogen, helps us understand the temporal evolution of water on Mars. Deuterium is a heavy hydrogen atom, its nucleus contains one more neutron. So water, H2O, is made of a deuterium atom and a hydrogen atom, HDO, heavier and will be more difficult to get out into space,” said Joao Dias, lead author of the study.
“Comparison of these ratios was carried out at global and local levels on Mars. Perhaps with this research, it will provide us with valuable information about the fate of Martian water.”
Also included in this study is phosphine which can be produced spontaneously in a high-pressure and high-temperature environment in the presence of the two chemical elements that compose it, phosphorus and hydrogen. According to Pedro Machado, this is what happens on Jupiter, with phosphine being one of the reasons for the colorful bands in the gas giant’s atmosphere.
“But on rocky planets like Earth, where these extreme conditions don’t exist, their presence is associated with biological activity,” Machado said.
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