SOFIA Fails to Find Phosphine in the Atmosphere of Venus, But the Debate Continues by Nancy_A
SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 2.7-meter reflecting telescope. Flying into the stratosphere at 13 km puts SOFIA above 99 percent of Earth’s infrared-blocking atmosphere, allowing astronomers to study the universe in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes.
This altitude also put the observatory above the area of phosphine in Earth’s own atmosphere, avoiding terrestrial interference. Additionally, the researchers used SOFIA’s German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies instrument, which high spectral resolution enabled it to be sensitive to phosphine at high altitudes in Venus’s atmosphere, about 45 to 70 miles above the ground — the same region as the original finding. The observations were conducted over three flights in November 2021.
“Phosphine is a relatively simple chemical compound — it’s just a phosphorus atom with three hydrogens — so you would think that would be fairly easy to produce. But on Venus, it’s not obvious how it could be made,” said Martin Cordiner, a researcher in astrochemistry and planetary science at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in a
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