Emily Chan
We think of Venus as a barren planet with a hostile environment that is incapable of supporting life. However, an unexpected discovery may change this current view of Venus forever. In Venus’ atmosphere, scientists have observed a spike in the level of deuterium relative to hydrogen.
Deuterium and hydrogen are isotopes of each other, which basically means they are different forms of the same element.
They contain equal numbers of protons but varying amounts of neutrons in their nuclei. As a result, they have different atomic masses, but their chemical properties stay pretty much the same.
“Venus is often called Earth’s twin due to its similar size,” Hiroki Karyu, a co-author of the study and a researcher at Tohoku University, said.
“Despite the similarities between the two planets, it has evolved differently. Unlike Earth, Venus has extreme surface conditions.”
The altitudes on Venus have 150,000 times less water than comparable altitudes on Earth. Due to the extreme temperatures and pressures beneath the thick layers of clouds on Venus, liquid water cannot exist in significant quantities.
But it may not have always been like that. It is believed that Venus and Earth once had similar HDO/H20 ratios since both planets formed in a hot region where water could not condense in the early solar system.
Later, water-rich asteroids likely from the outer asteroid belt were thought to have delivered water to the worlds, resulting in similar deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratios on both planets. The idea is further supported by comparable levels of other elements, such as carbon and nitrogen.
After looking at data collected from the Solar Occultation in the Infrared (SOIR) instrument on the Venus Express space probe, scientists realized that the ratio of HDO was now 120 times higher than H20 in Venus’ atmosphere.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
