Monday, September 14, 2020

watched RAS news conference

Watched the RAS online news conference via the Astronomy Now web site.

Using Zoom, Philip Diamond, the director of the Royal Astronomical Society, introduced the speakers. They included Professor Jane Greaves, Dr William Bains, and Prof Sara Seager. Dr Anita Richards was also on hand from Atacama. They held a media news conference to share their findings on Venus.

A high amount of phosphine was detected in the atmosphere of Venus by radio astronomy measurements. The compound is produced on Earth primarily by living organisms and industrial processes. This signature may indicate the presence of microbes in the temperate layer of the atmosphere of the second planet in our solar system. See the paper at Nature Astronomy.

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