Comment on “Phosphine in the Venusian Atmosphere: A strict upper limit from SOFIA GREAT observations” by Cordiner et al.
- Greaves, Jane S.
- Petkowski, Janusz J.
- Richards, Anita M. S.
- Sousa‐Silva, Clara
- Seager, Sara
- Clements, David L.
DOIAbstract
Searches for phosphine in Venus' atmosphere have sparked a debate. Cordiner et al. (2022, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl101055) analyze spectra from the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and infer <0.8 ppb of PH3. We noticed that some spectral artifacts arose from non‐essential calibration‐load signals. By‐passing these signals allows simpler post‐processing and a 5.7σ candidate detection, suggesting ∼3 ppb of PH3 above the clouds. Compiling six phosphine results hints at an inverted abundance trend: decreasing above the clouds but rising again in the mesosphere from some unexplained source. However, no such extra source is needed if phosphine is undergoing destruction by sunlight (photolysis), to a similar degree as ...
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