A ‘greenhouse planet’, Venus since surface temperatures go upto 400 degrees Celsius. Its thick atmosphere is mainly made of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid droplets. Such harsh conditions are not at all favourable to life. Hence it was supposed that there was no life on Venus.
Recently, Scientists and researchers from MIT, Cardiff University and Cambridge University think that life may have found a way to survive in these harsh conditions on Venus. They have said in a new study that presence of Ammonia may suggest that microbes may be able to live inside clouds in Venus’s atmosphere. The Ammonia can neutralise Venus’ highly acidic environment and create habitable space in the clouds.
Furthermore, these researchers think that a biological movement led to formation of Ammonia. The Co-author of the study has been quoted in media information as saying that life exists in highly acidic environs on Earth.
Venus, after Mars has always piqued scientific interest with respect to possibility of life. NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) are scheduling to send two spacecrafts to Venus in next 10 to 15 years. More light would be thrown on habitability of Venus’ atmosphere at that time.