Upper limits for phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Mars

K. S. Olsen; A. Trokhimovskiy; A. S. Braude; O. I. Korablev; A. A. Fedorova; C. F. Wilson; M. R. Patel; P. G. J. Irwin; F. Montmessin; F. Lefèvre; L. Baggio; J. Alday; D. A. Belyaev; A. Patrakeev; A. Shakun

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140868

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Volume 649 (May 2021)

A&A, 649 (2021) L1

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Issue		A&A Volume 649, May 2021


Article Number		L1
Number of page(s)		5
Section		Letters to the Editor
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140868
Published online		30 April 2021

A&A 649, L1 (2021)

Letter to the Editor

Upper limits for phosphine (PH₃) in the atmosphere of Mars

K. S. Olsen¹, A. Trokhimovskiy², A. S. Braude³, O. I. Korablev², A. A. Fedorova², C. F. Wilson¹, M. R. Patel⁴, P. G. J. Irwin¹, F. Montmessin³, F. Lefèvre³, L. Baggio³, J. Alday¹, D. A. Belyaev², A. Patrakeev² and A. Shakun²

¹ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
e-mail: Kevin.Olsen@physics.ox.ac.uk
² Space Research Institute (IKI), Moscow, Russia
³ Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS/CNRS), Paris, France
⁴ School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

Received: 24 March 2021
Accepted: 13 April 2021

Abstract

Phosphine (PH₃) is proposed to be a possible biomarker in planetary atmospheres and has been claimed to have been observed in the atmosphere of Venus, sparking interest in the habitability of Venus’s atmosphere. Observations of another biomarker, methane (CH₄), have been reported several times in the atmosphere of Mars, hinting at the possibility of a past or present biosphere. The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has a spectral range that includes several absorption lines of PH₃ with line strengths comparable to previously observed CH₄ lines. The signature of PH₃ was not observed in the 192 observations made over a full Martian year of observations, and here we report upper limits of 0.1–0.6 ppbv.

Key words: planets and satellites: atmospheres / planets and satellites: composition / planets and satellites: terrestrial planets / planets and satellites: detection

© ESO 2021

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