Low levels of sulphur dioxide contamination of Venusian phosphine spectra

Author:

Greaves Jane S1ORCID,Rimmer Paul B234,Richards Anita M S5,Petkowski Janusz J6ORCID,Bains William16,Ranjan Sukrit7,Seager Sara689,Clements David L10ORCID,Silva Clara Sousa11ORCID,Fraser Helen J12

Affiliation:

1. School of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University , 4 The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK

2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

3. Cavendish Astrophysics, University of Cambridge , JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK

4. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave , Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK

5. Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester , Manchester M13 9PL, UK

6. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

7. Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern University , 1800 Sherman Avenue 8041, Evanston, IL 60201, USA

8. Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

9. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

10. Department of Physics, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK

11. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Observatory Building E , 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

12. School of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK

Abstract

ABSTRACT New analysis is presented of the 1.1 mm wavelength absorption lines in Venus’ atmosphere that suggested the presence of phosphine. We retrieve a sulphur dioxide observation from the JCMT archive that was simultaneous within a few days of the PH3 1-0 spectrum obtained in 2017 June, and demonstrate via a radiative transfer calculation that contamination of PH3 by SO2 was ≈10 per cent. We also present ALMA 2019 spectra of PH3 1-0 and an SO2 transition acquired simultaneously, and infer that SO2 line-contamination was ≲2 per cent (for the least-noisy half of the planetary disc). The contamination-subtracted ALMA and JCMT spectra (of 6–8σ sigma confidence) are now consistent with similar absorption-depths at the two epochs. The two values span −1.9(±0.2) 10−4 of the continuum signal (which was re-estimated for ALMA), albeit for differing planetary areas. This suggests that the abundance attributed to phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere was broadly similar in 2017 and 2019.

Funder

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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