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Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech via NASA

Venus is one of the hottest and most hostile planets in our Solar System and has an extremely hot surface, around 460 °C, and its clouds contain concentrated sulfuric acid.” Despite this, scientists have found ammonia in the planet’s upper atmosphere, a chemical that shouldn’t naturally be there. This raises an exciting question: could tiny microorganisms survive in Venus ’ clouds? Studying this could help us understand where life might exist beyond Earth.

Although Venus is similar in size to Earth, its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat, and its clouds are highly acidic. On Earth, ammonia is often made by living organisms. Past missions, including NASA’s Pioneer Venus and the Soviet Venera probes, also detected ammonia in the clouds. Scientists say natural sources like lightning or volcanic gases do not make enough ammonia to explain what they see .

A 2021 study suggested that microbes could produce ammonia in Venus’ clouds. This ammonia could mix with the acid in the clouds, creating tiny pockets with less harsh conditions where life could survive. Even though these pockets would still be acidic, they might be enough for some microorganisms to live. To find out, scientists need to send probes directly into Venus’ atmosphere. NASA’s upcoming missions , DAVINCI + and VERITAS, planned for the early 2030s, aim to do just that.

"Future missions could test for ammonia and other chemicals in Venus’ clouds, which could change how we think about where life can exist ,” said William Bains, an astrobiologist at MIT. Even though life has not been found yet, the presence of ammonia is a clue. On Earth, microbes produce ammonia to survive acidic environments, which suggests a possible parallel on Venus.

This research implies that some life possibly could exist in places we once thought were impossible. People can stay curious about these discoveries, and governments can support missions to study Venus . Educators can also use this example to teach students about extreme environments and the search for life beyond Earth .

The discovery of ammonia in Venus’ clouds challenges the idea that the planet is completely uninhabitable. Future missions may reveal whether Venus’ clouds could host life . Even if they don’t, studying Venus will help us better understand extreme planetary environments and the chemistry of its atmosphere.

References: Bains, W., Petkowski, J. J., Rimmer, P. B., & Seager, S. (2021). Production of ammonia makes Venusian clouds habitable and explains observed cloud-level chemical anomalies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(52), e2110889118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2110889118

NASA. (2021, June 2). NASA selects 2 missions to study ‘lost habitable’ world of Venus [News Release]. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus/