In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have considered many different options. For example, Mars has geological features that suggest it once had liquid water, one of the basic conditions for life. Scientists are also studying Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus, and Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as possible harbors for life in icy oceans.
Now, scientists have returned to an old idea that promises a new perspective in the search for life beyond Earth: life on Venus, or more precisely in the clouds of Venus.
In a paper published March 30 in the journal Astrobiology, an international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin examines Venus' atmosphere as a possible habitat for extraterrestrial microbial life.
"Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own," Limay explains, noting that some models suggest Venus once had suitable climate conditions and liquid water on its surface for 2 billion years. "It's much longer than on Mars."
On Earth, terrestrial microorganisms, mainly bacteria, can enter the atmosphere, where they have been found alive at altitudes of up to 41 kilometers by scientists using specially equipped balloons from NASA's Ames Research Center, according to study co-author David Smith.
There is also a growing catalog of microbes that are known to live in incredibly harsh environments on our planet, including the hot springs of Yellowstone, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and the toxic sludge of polluted areas and lakes around the world.
“On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very complex environments, can feed on carbon dioxide and produce sulfuric acid,” says Rakesh Mogul, a professor of biological chemistry at California State Polytechnic University. He notes that the cloudy, very dense and acidic atmosphere of Venus consists mainly of carbon dioxide and water droplets containing sulfuric acid.
The idea of possible life in the clouds of Venus was first raised in 1967 by biophysicist Harold Morowitz and famous astronomer Carl Sagan. Decades later, planetary scientists David Grinspoon, Mark Bullock and their colleagues expanded on this idea.
Supporting the view that the atmosphere of Venus may be a suitable niche for life, a series of space probes on the planet launched between 1962 and 1978 showed that temperature and pressure conditions in the lower and middle parts of the Venusian atmosphere between 40 and 60 kilometers - would not interfere with microbial life. It is known that the surface conditions on the planet are very inhospitable - temperatures reach 460 degrees Celsius and pressure 90 atmospheres.
Sanjay Limaye, who conducts his research as a NASA scientist on the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki mission to Venus, wanted to revisit the idea of studying the planet's atmosphere after a chance meeting at a seminar with paper co-author Grzegorz Slowik of Poland's University of Zielona Gora. Slovik told him about bacteria on Earth with light-absorbing properties similar to those unidentified particles that make up the unexplained dark spots seen in the clouds of Venus. Spectroscopic observations, especially in ultraviolet light, indicate that the dark spots are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid and other unknown light-absorbing particles.
These dark spots have been a mystery since they were first discovered by ground-based telescopes nearly a century ago, Limaye says. They were studied in more detail during the flights of automatic probes to the planet.
“Venus shows some occasional dark, sulfur-rich patches, with contrasts of up to 30-40 percent in ultraviolet and muted in longer wavelengths of light. These spots persist for several days, constantly changing their shape and size,” says Limaye.
The particles that make up the dark spots are almost the same size as some bacteria on Earth, although the instruments that have studied Venus' atmosphere to date cannot distinguish between organic and inorganic materials.
The spots could be something similar to the algae blooms that typically occur in Earth's lakes and oceans - only they would develop in Venus' atmosphere.
Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP).
Image: Northrop Grumman
In the hunt for extraterrestrial life, planetary atmospheres other than Earth remain largely unexplored.
One opportunity for studying Venus's clouds, Limaye says, is on the drawing board: VAMP, or Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform, a craft that flies like an airplane but floats like an airship and can stay aloft in the planet's cloud layer for up to a year to collect data and samples.
Such a platform could include meteorological, chemical sensors and spectrometers, Limay says. She can also carry a special type of microscope that can identify living microorganisms.
“To really know, we need to study the clouds in situ,” the scientists say. "Venus could be an exciting new chapter in the exploration of extraterrestrial life."
Scientists remain hopeful that such a chapter can be opened, as there are currently discussions about possible NASA participation in the Russian Roscosmos Venera-D mission, which is scheduled for the late 2020s. Current plans for Venera-D could include an orbiter, landing pad and ground station built by NASA, as well as a maneuverable aerial platform.
More information: Sanjay S. Limaye et al. Venus’ Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds, Astrobiology (2018). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1783
Following some searches, we might be able to discover life based on a completely different chemical composition (without carbon and/or water). BOO. Jones, British astrophysicist
Venus is one of the most mysterious planets in our solar system. Astrophysical research in recent decades has enriched our understanding of nature with many interesting facts. In 1995, the first exoplanet was found - a planet that orbits one of the stars in our Galaxy. Today, more than seven hundred such exoplanets are known (see “Science and Life” No. 12, 2006). Almost all of them orbit in very low orbits, but if the luminosity of the star is low, the temperature on the planet can range from 650-900 K (377-627 ° C). Such conditions are absolutely unacceptable for the only protein form of life known to us. But is it really the only one in the Universe, and is the denial of its other possible types “earthly chauvinism”?
It is unlikely that it will be possible to explore even the closest exoplanets using automatic spacecraft in the current century. It is quite possible, however, that the answer can be found very close by, on our closest neighbor in the solar system - Venus. The temperature of the planet's surface (735 K, or 462 ° C), the enormous pressure (87-90 atm) of its gas shell with a density of 65 kg/m³, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide (96.5%), nitrogen (3.5%) and traces of oxygen (less than 2·10-5%), are close to the physical conditions on many exoplanets of a special class. Recently, television images (panoramas) of the surface of Venus, obtained thirty years ago or more, have been re-examined and processed. They revealed several objects ranging in size from a decimeter to half a meter, which changed shape, position in the frame, appeared in some images and disappeared in others. And in a number of panoramas, precipitation was clearly observed that fell and melted on the surface of the planet.
In January, the journal “Astronomical Bulletin - Research of the Solar System” published the article “Venus as a natural laboratory for the search for life in conditions of high temperatures: about the events on the planet on March 1, 1982.” She did not leave readers indifferent, and opinions were divided - from extreme interest to angry disapproval, coming mainly from overseas. Both the article published then and this article do not claim that a hitherto unknown extraterrestrial life form was found on Venus, but only talk about phenomena that may be its signs. But, as one of the two main authors of the television experiment on the Venus spacecraft, Yu.M., successfully formulated the topic. Hektin, “we do not like the interpretation of the results as signs of life on the planet. However, we cannot find any other explanation for what we see in panoramas of the surface of Venus.”
It is probably appropriate to recall the aphorism that new ideas usually go through three stages: 1. How stupid! 2. There is something in this... 3. Well, who doesn’t know that!
The Venus devices, their video cameras and the first greetings from Venus
The first panoramas of the surface of Venus were transmitted to Earth by the Venera-9 and Venera-10 spacecraft back in 1975. Images were obtained using two optical-mechanical cameras with photomultipliers installed on each device (CCD matrices then existed only as an idea).
Photo 1. The surface of Venus at the landing site of the Venera 9 spacecraft (1975). Physical conditions on Venus: atmosphere CO2 96.5%, N2 3.5%, O2 less than 2·10-5; temperature - 735 K (462°C), pressure 92 MPa (approximately 90 atm). Daylight illumination from 400 lux to 11 klux. The meteorology of Venus is determined by sulfur compounds (SO2, SO3, H2SO4).
The camera pupils were located at a height of 90 cm from the surface, on both sides of the apparatus. The swinging mirror of each camera gradually rotated and created a panorama of 177 ° in width, a strip from horizon to horizon (3.3 km on flat ground), and the upper border of the image was two meters from the device. The resolution of the cameras made it possible to clearly see millimeter-scale surface details close up and objects about 10 meters in size near the horizon. The cameras were located inside the device and filmed the surrounding landscape through a sealed quartz window. The device gradually warmed up, but its designers firmly promised half an hour of operation. A processed fragment of the Venera-9 panorama is shown in photo 1. This is how a person on an expedition to Venus would see the planet.
In 1982, the Venera-13 and Venera-14 devices were equipped with more advanced cameras with light filters. The images were twice as sharp and consisted of 1000 vertical lines of 211 pixels, each 11 arcminutes in size. The video signal, as before, was transmitted to the orbital part of the device, the artificial satellite of Venus, which relayed the data to Earth in real time. During operation, the cameras transmitted 33 panoramas or fragments thereof, which allows us to trace the development of some interesting phenomena on the planet.
It is impossible to convey the scale of the technical difficulties that camera developers had to overcome. Suffice it to say that in the 37 years since then, the experiment has never been repeated. The development team was led by Doctor of Technical Sciences A.S. Selivanov, who managed to assemble a group of talented scientists and engineers. Let us mention here only the current Chief Designer of space instruments of JSC Space Systems, Candidate of Technical Sciences Yu.M. Gektin, his colleagues - candidate of physical and mathematical sciences A.S. Panfilova, M.K. Naraev, V.P. Suitcase. The first images from the surface of the Moon and from the orbit of Mars were also transmitted by the instruments they created.
In the very first panorama (“Venera-9”, 1975), the attention of several groups of experimenters was attracted by a symmetrical object of complex structure, about 40 centimeters in size, resembling a sitting bird with an elongated tail. Geologists cautiously called it “a strange rock with a rod-like protrusion and a lumpy surface.” “The Stone” was discussed in the final collection of articles “First panoramas of the surface of Venus” (editor M.V. Keldysh) and in a weighty volume of the international publication “VENUS”. I became interested in it on October 22, 1975, immediately as soon as the tape with the panorama crawled out of the bulky phototelegraph apparatus at the Evpatoria Center for Deep Space Communications.
Unfortunately, in the future, all my attempts to interest my colleagues at the Space Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the administration of the institute in the strange object were in vain. The idea of the impossibility of life existing at high temperatures turned out to be an insurmountable barrier to any discussion. Still, a year before the publication of M. V. Keldysh’s collection, in 1978, the book “Rediscovered Planets” was published, which contained an image of a “strange stone”. The comment on the photo was: “The details of the object are symmetrical about the longitudinal axis. Lack of clarity hides its contours, but... with some imagination you can see a fantastic inhabitant of Venus. On the right side of the picture... you can see an unusually shaped object about 30 cm in size. Its entire surface is covered with strange growths, and in their position you can see some kind of symmetry. To the left of the object protrudes a long straight white process, under which a deep shadow is visible, repeating its shape. The white appendage is very similar to a straight tail. On the opposite side, the object ends in a large white rounded protrusion, similar to a head. The entire object rests on a short thick “paw”. The resolution of the image is not enough to clearly distinguish all the details of the mysterious object... Did Venera 9 really land next to a living inhabitant of the planet? This is very hard to believe. Moreover, in the eight minutes that passed before the camera lens returned to the object, it did not change its position at all. This is strange for a living creature (unless it was damaged by the edge of the apparatus from which it is separated by centimeters). Most likely, we are seeing a stone of an unusual shape, similar to a volcanic bomb... With a tail.”
The sarcasm of the final phrase - “with a tail” - showed that opponents did not convince the author of the physical impossibility of life on Venus. The same publication says: “Let us imagine, however, that in some of the space experiments a living being was nevertheless found on the surface of Venus... The history of science shows that as soon as a new experimental fact appears, theorists, as a rule, they quickly find an explanation for him. One can even predict what this explanation would be. Very heat-resistant organic compounds have been synthesized that use the energy of π-electron bonds (one of the types of covalent bonds, the “sharing” of valence electrons of two atoms of a molecule. - Ed.). Such polymers can withstand temperatures up to 1000°C or more. Amazingly, some terrestrial bacteria use π-electron bonds in their metabolism, but not to increase heat resistance, but to bind atmospheric nitrogen (which inevitably requires enormous bond energy, reaching 10 eV or more). As you can see, nature created “blanks” for models of Venusian living cells even on Earth.”
The author returned to this topic in the books “Planeten” and “Parade of the Planets”. But in his strictly scientific monograph “Planet Venus” the hypothesis of life on the planet is not mentioned, since the question of the energy sources necessary for life in a non-oxidizing atmosphere remained (and continues to remain) unclear.
New missions. 1982
Photo 2. The Venera-13 apparatus during laboratory tests in 1981. In the center you can see the window of the television camera, covered with a lid.
Let’s leave the “strange stone” for a while. The next successful flights to the planet with the transmission of images from its surface were the Venera 13 and Venera 14 missions in 1982. The team of the Research and Production Association named after. S.A. Lavochkin created amazing devices, which were then called AMS.
With each new mission to Venus, they became more and more advanced, capable of withstanding enormous pressures and temperatures. The Venera-13 apparatus (photo 2), equipped with two television cameras and other instruments, descended in the equatorial zone of the planet.
Thanks to effective thermal protection, the temperature inside the devices rose quite slowly, their systems managed to transmit a lot of scientific data, high-definition panoramic images, including color ones, and with a low level of various interference. The transmission of each panorama took 13 minutes. The Venera 13 lander operated for a record long time on March 1, 1982. It would have continued to transmit more, but at the 127th minute, it is unclear who and why ordered it to stop receiving data from it. A command was sent from Earth to turn off the receiver on the orbiter, although the lander continued to send signals... Was it a concern for the orbiter so that its batteries would not run out, or something else, but didn’t priority remain with the lander?
Based on all the information transmitted, including that which until recently was considered to be corrupted by noise, the duration of Venera-13’s successful operation on the surface exceeded two hours. The images published in print were created by combining color-separated and black-and-white panoramas (photo 3). At a low level of interference, three images were sufficient for this.
Photo 3. Panorama of the surface of Venus at the landing site of the Venera-13 spacecraft. In the center is the landing buffer of the apparatus with the teeth of a turbulator, ensuring a smooth landing, above is the discarded white semi-cylindrical cover of the television camera window. Its diameter is 20 cm, height 16 cm. The distance between the teeth is 5 cm.
The excess information made it possible to restore the picture where, for a short time, the apparatus switched from surface images to transmitting the results of other scientific measurements. The published panoramas traveled around the world, were reprinted many times, then interest in them began to gradually fade away; even experts have come to the conclusion that the job has already been done...
What we managed to see on the surface of Venus
The new image analysis turned out to be very labor-intensive. People often ask why they waited more than thirty years. No, we didn't wait. Old data was turned to again and again, as processing tools improved and, let's say, observation and understanding of extraterrestrial objects improved. Promising results were obtained already in 2003-2006, and the most significant discoveries were made last year and the year before, and the work has not yet been completed. For the studies, we used sequences of primary images obtained over a fairly long period of operation of the device. On them one could try to detect some differences, understand what caused them (for example, wind), detect objects that differ in appearance from natural surface details, and note phenomena that escaped attention then, more than thirty years ago. During processing, we used the simplest and “linear” methods - adjusting brightness, contrast, blurring or sharpening. Any other means - retouching, adjustments or the use of any version of Photoshop - were completely excluded.
The most interesting are the images transmitted by the Venera 13 spacecraft on March 1, 1982. A new analysis of images of the surface of Venus revealed several objects that had the features noted above. For convenience, they were given conventional names, which, of course, do not reflect their real essence.
Photo 4. The lower part of a large “disk” object, 0.34 m in diameter, is visible on the right at the top border of the image.
A strange “disk” that changes its shape. The “disc” has a regular shape, apparently round, about 30 cm in diameter and resembles a large shell. In the panorama fragment in photo 4, only its lower half is visible, and the upper half is cut off by the frame border.
The position of the “disk” in subsequent images changes slightly due to a slight shift of the scanning camera when the device warms up. In photo 4, an elongated structure resembling a panicle is adjacent to the “disc”. Photo 5 shows sequential images of the “disk” (arrow a) and the surface near it, and at the bottom of the frames the approximate moment of the scanner field passing over the “disk” is indicated.
In the first two frames (32nd and 72nd minutes), the appearance of the “disc” and “broom” almost did not change, but at the end of the 72nd minute a short arc appeared in its lower part. On the third frame (86th minute) the arc became several times longer, and the “disk” began to divide into parts.
At the 93rd minute (frame 4), the “disk” disappeared, and instead of it, a symmetrical light object of approximately the same size appeared, formed by numerous V-shaped folds - “chevrons”, oriented approximately along the “panicle”. From the bottom of the “chevrons” » Numerous large arcs, similar to the arc in the third frame, separated. They covered the entire surface adjacent to the telephotometer cover (the white half-cylinder on the surface). Unlike the “broom”, a shadow is visible under the “chevrons”, which indicates their volume.
Photo 5. Changes in the position and shape of the “disk” (arrow a) and “chevron” (arrow b) objects. The approximate moment when the scanner passes the image of the “disk” is indicated at the bottom of the frames.
After 26 minutes, on the last frame (119th minute), the “disc” and “panicle” were completely restored and are clearly visible. The "chevrons" and arcs disappeared just as they appeared, possibly moving outside the image border. Thus, five frames of photo 5 demonstrate the full cycle of changes in the shape of the “disk” and the probable connection of the “chevrons” with both it and the arcs.
“Black flap” on the soil mechanical property meter. On the Venera-13 apparatus, among other instruments, there was a device for measuring soil strength in the form of a folding truss 60 cm long. After the apparatus landed, the latch holding the truss was released, and under the action of a spring the truss was lowered to the ground. The measuring cone (stamp) at its end, the kinetic energy of which was known, went deeper into the soil. The mechanical strength of the soil was assessed by the depth of its immersion.
Photo 6. An unknown “black flap” object appeared in the first 13 minutes after landing, wrapped around a conical measuring hammer, which was partially buried in the ground. The details of the mechanism are visible through the black object. Subsequent images (taken between 27 and 50 minutes after landing) show a clean hammer surface with no black flap.
One of the mission's objectives was to measure small components of the atmosphere and soil. Therefore, any separation from the apparatus of any particles, films, products of destruction or burning during descent into the atmosphere and landing was absolutely excluded; During ground tests, special attention was paid to these requirements. However, in the first image, obtained in the interval 0-13 minutes after landing, it is clearly visible that around the measuring cone, along its entire height, an unknown thin object stretched upward was wrapped - a “black flap” measuring about six centimeters in height (photo 6) . In subsequent panoramas taken after 27 and 36 minutes, this “black patch” is missing. It cannot be a defect in the image: clearer images show that some parts of the truss are projected onto the “flap”, while others are partially visible through it. A second object of this type was discovered on the other side of the device, under the dropped camera cover. It seems that their appearance is somehow related to the destruction of the soil by the measuring cone or landing apparatus. This assumption is indirectly confirmed by the observation of another similar object that appeared in the field of view of the cameras later.
The star of the screen is Scorpio. This most interesting object appeared approximately at the 90th minute, along with a semi-ring adjacent to it on the right (photo 7). What first attracted attention to him was, of course, his strange appearance. The assumption immediately arose that this was some kind of part that had separated from the apparatus that had begun to collapse. But then the device would quickly fail due to catastrophic overheating of its devices in the sealed compartment, into which the hot atmosphere would immediately penetrate under the influence of gigantic pressure. However, Venera 13 continued to operate normally for another hour, and, therefore, the object did not belong to it. According to the technical documentation, all external operations - dropping sensor covers and television cameras, drilling the soil, working with the measuring cone - ended half an hour after landing. Nothing else was separated from the device. In subsequent photographs the “scorpion” is missing.
Photo 7. The “scorpion” object appeared in the image approximately 90 minutes after the spacecraft landed. It is missing from subsequent images.
In photo 7, the brightness and contrast have been adjusted, the clarity and sharpness of the original image have been increased. "Scorpio" measures about 17 centimeters in length and has a complex structure reminiscent of terrestrial insects or arachnids. Its shape cannot be the result of a random combination of dark, gray and light points. The image of the “scorpion” consists of 940 points, and in the panorama there are 2.08·105. The probability of the formation of such a structure due to a random combination of points is vanishingly small: less than 10-100. In other words, the possibility of a “scorpion” accidentally appearing is excluded. In addition, it casts a clearly visible shadow, and therefore it is a real object and not an artifact. A simple combination of points cannot cast a shadow.
The late appearance of the “scorpion” in the frame can be explained, for example, by the processes that took place during the landing of the device. The vertical speed of the device was 7.6 m/s, and the lateral speed was approximately equal to the wind speed (0.3-0.5 m/s). The impact on the ground occurred with the reverse acceleration of 50 g of Venus. The device destroyed the soil to a depth of approximately 5 cm and threw it in the direction of lateral movement, covering the surface. To confirm this assumption, the place where the “scorpion” appeared was studied in all panoramas (photo 8) and interesting details were seen.
Photo 8. Sequential images of a section of soil thrown out during landing in the direction of the lateral movement of the vehicle. The approximate minutes of scanning the corresponding area are indicated.
In the first image (7th minute), a shallow groove about 10 cm long is visible on the ejected soil. In the second image (20th minute), the sides of the groove have risen, and its length has increased to approximately 15 cm. In the third (59th minute) a regular “scorpion” structure became visible in the groove. Finally, at the 93rd minute, the “scorpion” completely emerged from the 1–2 cm thick layer of soil that had covered it. At the 119th minute, it disappeared from the frame and is absent from subsequent images (photo 9).
Photo 9. “Scorpio” (1) appeared in the panorama taken from the 87th to the 100th minute. It is absent from the images obtained before the 87th and after the 113th minute. Low-contrast object 2, together with a patchy light environment, is also present only in the panorama of the 87-100th minute. On frames 87-100 and 113-126 minutes on the left, in a group of stones, a new object K with a changing shape appeared. He is not in the frames of the 53-66th and 79-87th minutes. The central part of the image shows the result of image processing and the dimensions of the “scorpion”.
Wind was primarily considered as a possible reason for the movement of the “scorpion”. Since the density of the Venusian atmosphere at the surface is ρ = 65 kg/m³, the dynamic impact of the wind is 8 times higher than on Earth. Wind speed v was measured in many experiments: by the Doppler frequency shift of the transmitted signal; based on the movement of dust and acoustic noise in the microphone on board - and were estimated to range from 0.3 to 0.48 m/s. Even at its maximum value, the wind speed ρv² on the lateral surface area of the “scorpion” creates a pressure of about 0.08 N, which could hardly move the object.
Another likely reason for the disappearance of the "scorpion" could be that it moved. As it moved away from the camera, the resolution of the images deteriorated, and at three to four meters it would have become indistinguishable from stones. At a minimum, it must have moved this distance in 26 minutes - the time the scanner next returned to the same lines in the panorama.
Due to the tilt of the camera axis, image distortions occur (photo 3). But near the camera they are small and do not require correction. Another possible cause of distortion is the movement of the object during scanning. It took 780 s to shoot the entire panorama, and 32 s to capture the image section with the “scorpion”. When an object moves, for example, an apparent lengthening or contraction of its size could occur, but, as will be shown, the fauna of Venus must be very slow.
Analysis of the behavior of objects discovered in panoramas of Venus suggests that at least some of them have signs of living beings. Taking this hypothesis into account, we can try to explain why in the first hour of operation of the descent vehicle, no strange objects were observed except for the “black patch”, and the “scorpion” appeared only an hour and a half after the landing of the vehicle.
A strong impact during landing caused the destruction of the soil and its release towards the lateral movement of the apparatus. After landing, the device made a lot of noise for about half an hour. The squibs shot off the covers of television cameras and scientific instruments, the drilling rig was working, and the rod with the measuring hammer was released. The “inhabitants” of the planet, if they were there, left the dangerous area. But they did not have time to leave the side of the soil ejection and were covered with it. The fact that the “scorpion” took about an hour and a half to get out from under a centimeter-long rubble indicates its low physical capabilities. A huge success of the experiment was the coincidence of the time of scanning the panorama with the appearance of the “scorpion” and its proximity to the television camera, which made it possible to discern both the details of the development of the described events and its appearance, although the clarity of the image leaves much to be desired. The scanning cameras of the Venera-13 and Venera-14 devices were intended to take panoramas of the surrounding areas of their landing sites and obtain general ideas about the surface of the planet. But the experimenters were lucky - they managed to learn much more.
The Venera-14 apparatus also landed in the equatorial zone of the planet, at a distance of about 700 km from Venera-13. At first, the analysis of the panoramas taken by Venera-14 did not reveal any special objects. But a more detailed search yielded interesting results that are now being studied. And we will remember the first panoramas of Venus, obtained in 1975.
Missions "Venera-9" and "Venera-10"
The results of the 1982 missions do not exhaust all available observational data. Almost seven years earlier, the less advanced spacecraft Venera-9 and Venera-10 landed on the surface of Venus (October 22 and 25, 1975). Then, on December 21 and 25, 1978, the landing of Venera 11 and Venera 12 took place. All devices also had optical-mechanical scanning cameras, one on each side of the device. Unfortunately, on the Venera-9 and Venera-10 devices only one chamber opened; the covers of the second ones did not separate, although the cameras worked normally, and on the Venera-11 and Venera-12 devices the covers of all of them did not separate. scanning cameras.
Compared to the cameras of “Venera-13” and “Venera-14”, the resolution in the panoramas of “Venera-9” and “Venera-10” was almost half as low, the angular resolution (unit pixel) was 21 arcminutes, the line scan duration was 3 .5 seconds. The shape of the spectral characteristic roughly corresponded to human vision. The Venera 9 panorama covered 174° in 29.3 minutes of filming with simultaneous transmission. "Venera-9" and "Venera-10" worked for 50 minutes and 44.5 minutes, respectively. The image was relayed to Earth in real time through the orbiter's highly directional antenna. The noise level in the received images was low, but due to the limited resolution the quality of the original panoramas, even after complex processing, left much to be desired.
Photo 10. Panorama transmitted on October 22, 1975 by the Venera-9 apparatus from the surface of the planet.
Photo. 11. Corner left part of the panorama in photo 10, where the slope of a distant hill is visible.
Photo 12. The image of the “strange stone” object (in the oval) becomes more elongated when the geometry of the Venera-9 panorama is corrected. The central field, delimited by slanted lines, corresponds to the right side of photo 10.
At the same time, the images (especially the Venera-9 panorama, which is rich in details) underwent additional, very labor-intensive processing using modern means, after which they became much clearer (the lower part of photo 10 and photo 11) and are quite comparable with the panoramas of Venera-13 and "Venera-14". As already noted, retouching and additions to images were completely excluded.
The Venera-9 apparatus descended onto the hillside and stood at an angle of almost 10° to the horizon. On the additionally processed left side of the panorama, the distant slope of the next hill is clearly visible (photo 11). Venera 10 landed on a flat surface at a distance of 1600 km from Venera 9.
Analysis of the Venera 9 panorama revealed many interesting details. First, let's return to the image of the “strange stone”. It was so “strange” that this part of the image was even featured on the cover of the publication “The First Panoramas of the Surface of Venus.”
Object "owl"
In 2003-2006, the image quality of the “strange stone” was significantly improved. As objects in panoramas were studied, image processing also improved. Similar to the conventional names proposed above, the “strange stone” received the name “owl” for its shape. Photo 12 shows an improved result based on the corrected image geometry. The detail of the object increased, but still remained insufficient for certain conclusions. The image is based on the far right side of Photo 10. The appearance of a uniformly light sky can be deceiving, as there are subtle spots visible in the original image. If we assume that here, as in photo 11, the slope of another hill is visible, then it is poorly distinguishable and should be much further away. The resolution of details in the original image had to be significantly improved.
Photo 13. The complex symmetrical shape and other features of the “strange stone” object (arrow) make it stand out against the background of the rocky surface of the planet at the landing point of Venera 9. The object measures about half a meter. The inset shows the object with the corrected geometry.
The processed fragment of photo 10 is shown in photo 13, where the “owl” is marked with an arrow and surrounded by a white oval. It has a regular shape, strong longitudinal symmetry, and is difficult to interpret as a “strange stone” or a “volcanic bomb with a tail.” The position of the parts of the “lumpy surface” reveals a certain radiality coming from the right side, from the “head”. The “head” itself has a lighter shade and a complex symmetrical structure with large figured, also symmetrical dark spots and, possibly, some kind of protrusion on top. In general, the structure of the massive “head” is difficult to understand. It is possible that some small stones that coincidentally coincide in shades with the “head” appear to be part of it. Correcting the geometry slightly lengthens the object, making it slimmer (photo 13, inset). The straight light “tail” is about 16 cm long, and the entire object together with the “tail” reaches half a meter with a height of at least 25 cm. The shadow under its body, which is slightly raised above the surface, completely follows the contours of all its parts. Thus, the size of the “owl” is quite large, which made it possible to obtain a fairly detailed image even with the limited resolution that the camera had, and, of course, due to the close location of the object. The question is appropriate: if in photo 13 we see not an inhabitant of Venus, then what is it? The apparent complex and highly ordered morphology of the object makes it difficult to find other suggestions.
If in the case of the “scorpion” (“Venera-13”) there was some noise in the panorama, which was eliminated using well-known techniques, then in the panorama of “Venera-9” (photo 10) there is practically no noise and does not affect the image.
Let's return to the original panorama, the details of which are visible quite clearly. The image with corrected geometry and the highest resolution is shown in photo 14. There is another element here that requires the reader's attention.
Damaged "owl"
Photo 14. The highest resolution was obtained when processing the Venera-9 panorama with corrected geometry.
During the first discussions of the results of Venera-13, one of the main questions was: how on Venus could nature manage without water, which is absolutely necessary for the earth’s biosphere? The critical temperature for water (when its vapor and liquid are in equilibrium and have indistinguishable physical properties) on Earth is 374°C, and under the conditions of Venus it is about 320°C. The temperature at the surface of the planet is about 460°C, so the metabolism of organisms on Venus (if they exist) must be built somehow differently, without water. The question of alternative liquids for life in the conditions of Venus has already been considered in a number of scientific works, and chemists are familiar with such media. Perhaps such a liquid is present in photo 14.
Photo 15. Fragment of the panorama - photographic plan. A dark trail stretches from the landing buffer, which, apparently, was left behind by an organism wounded by the device. The trail is formed by some kind of liquid substance of unknown nature (there cannot be liquid water on Venus). The object (about 20 cm in size) managed to crawl 35 cm in no more than six minutes. A photographic plan is convenient because it allows you to compare and measure the actual sizes of objects.
From the place on the torus of the Venera-9 landing buffer, marked with an asterisk in photo 14, a dark trail stretches along the surface of the stone to the left. Then it leaves the stone, expands and ends at a light object, similar to the “owl” discussed above, but half the size, about 20 cm. There are no other similar traces in the image. You can guess the origin of the trail, which begins directly at the landing buffer of the device: the object was partially crushed by the buffer and, crawling away, left a dark trail of liquid substance released from its damaged tissues (photo 15). For terrestrial animals such a trail would be called bloody. (Thus, the first victim of “terrestrial aggression” on Venus dates back to October 22, 1975.) Before the sixth minute of scanning, when the object appeared in the image, it managed to crawl about 35 cm. Knowing the time and distance, it can be established that its speed was not less than 6 cm/min. In photo 15, between the large stones where the damaged object is located, you can discern its shape and other features.
A dark trail indicates that such objects, even damaged ones, are capable of moving at a speed of at least 6 cm/min in case of serious danger. If the “scorpion”, which has already been mentioned, between the 93rd and 119th minutes actually moved to a distance of at least one meter, beyond the camera’s visibility, then its speed was at least 4 cm/min. At the same time, comparing photo 14 with other fragments of images transmitted by Venera-9 in seven minutes, it is clear that the “owl” in photo 13 has not moved. Some objects found in other panoramas (which are not considered here) also remained motionless. It is most likely that such “slowness” is caused by their limited energy reserves (“a scorpion,” for example, spent an hour and a half on a simple operation to save itself) and the slow movements of the Venusian fauna are normal for it. Note that the energy availability of the earth's fauna is very high, which is facilitated by the abundance of flora for nutrition and the oxidizing atmosphere.
In this regard, we should return to the object “owl” in photo 13. The ordered structure of its “lumpy surface” resembles small folded wings, and the “owl” rests on a “paw” similar to a bird’s. The density of the atmosphere of Venus at surface level is 65 kg m³. Any rapid movement in such a dense environment is difficult, but flight would require very small wings, slightly larger than fish fins, and insignificant energy expenditure. However, there is not enough evidence to claim that the object is a bird, and whether the inhabitants of Venus fly is still unknown. But they seem to be attracted to certain meteorological phenomena.
"Snowfall" on Venus
Until now, nothing was known about precipitation on the surface of the planet, except for the assumption of the possible formation and precipitation of aerosols from pyrite, lead sulfide or other compounds high in the Maxwell Mountains. In the latest panoramas of Venera 13, there are many white dots covering a significant part of them. The points were considered noise, loss of information. For example, when the negative signal from one point in the image is lost, a white dot appears in its place. Each such point is a pixel, either lost due to a malfunction of overheated equipment, or lost during a brief loss of radio communication between the descent vehicle and the orbital relay. When processing a panorama in 2011, white dots were replaced with average values of adjacent pixels. The image became clearer, but many small white specks remained. They consisted of several pixels and were, rather, not interference, but something real. Even in raw photographs it is clear that for some reason the dots are almost absent on the black body of the device caught in the frame, and the image itself and the moment the interference appears are in no way connected. Unfortunately, everything turned out to be more complicated. In the grouped images below, noise is also found on a close dark background. Moreover, they are rare, but still found on telemetry inserts, when the broadcast of the panorama was periodically replaced for eight seconds by the transfer of data from other scientific instruments. Therefore, panoramas show both precipitation and interference of electromagnetic origin. The latter is confirmed by the fact that the use of a light “blur” operation dramatically improves the image, eliminating precisely point interference. But the origin of the electrical interference remains unknown.
Photo 16. Chronological sequence of images with meteorological phenomena. The time indicated on the panoramas is counted from the start of scanning the top image. First, the entire initially clean surface became covered with white spots, then, over the next half hour, the area of precipitation decreased by at least half, and the soil under the “melted” mass acquired a dark shade, like earthly soil moistened by melted snow.
Comparing these facts, we can conclude that the noise was partly mistaken for meteorological phenomena - precipitation reminiscent of terrestrial snow, and its phase transitions (melting and evaporation) on the surface of the planet and on the apparatus itself. Photo 16 shows four such successive panoramas. Precipitation apparently occurred in short, intense gusts, after which the area of precipitation decreased by at least half over the next half hour, and the soil under the “melted” mass darkened, like moistened earthly soil. Since the surface temperature at the landing point is established (733 K), and the thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere are known, the main conclusion of the observation is that there are very strict restrictions on the nature of the precipitated solid or liquid substance. Of course, the composition of “snow” at a temperature of 460°C is a big mystery. However, there are probably very few substances that have a critical pT point (when they exist simultaneously in three phases) in a narrow temperature range near 460°C and at a pressure of 9 MPa, and among them are aniline and naphthalene. The described meteorological phenomena occurred after the 60th or 70th minute. At the same time, the “scorpion” appeared and some other interesting phenomena arose that have yet to be described. The conclusion involuntarily suggests itself that Venusian life waits for precipitation, like rain in the desert, or, conversely, avoids it.
The possibility of life in conditions similar to the moderately high temperatures (733 K) and carbon dioxide atmosphere of Venus has been considered more than once in the scientific literature. The authors came to the conclusion that its presence on Venus, for example in microbiological forms, is not excluded. Life was also considered that could evolve under slowly changing conditions from the early stages of the planet's history (with conditions closer to Earth) to modern ones. The temperature range near the surface of the planet (725-755 K depending on the topography), of course, is absolutely unacceptable for terrestrial life forms, but if you think about it, thermodynamically it is no worse than terrestrial conditions. Yes, the media and active chemical agents are unknown to us, but no one was looking for them. Chemical reactions at high temperatures are very active; the source materials on Venus are not much different from those on Earth. There are any number of anaerobic organisms known. Photosynthesis in a number of protozoa is based on a reaction where the electron donor is hydrogen sulfide H2S, rather than water. In many species of autotrophic prokaryotes living underground, chemosynthesis is used instead of photosynthesis, for example 4H2 + CO2 → CH4 + H2O. There are no physical prohibitions on life at high temperatures, except, of course, “earthly chauvinism.” Of course, photosynthesis at high temperatures and in a non-oxidizing environment must apparently rely on completely different, unknown biophysical mechanisms.
But what energy sources could life in principle use in the Venusian atmosphere, where sulfur compounds, rather than water, play the main role in meteorology? The discovered objects are quite large; they are not microorganisms. It is most natural to assume that they, like those on Earth, exist due to vegetation. Although the direct rays of the Sun, due to the thick cloud layer, as a rule, do not reach the surface of the planet, there is enough light there for photosynthesis. On Earth, diffuse illumination of 0.5-7 kilolux is quite enough for photosynthesis even in the depths of dense tropical forests, and on Venus it lies in the range of 0.4-9 kilolux. But if this article gives some idea about the possible fauna of Venus, then it is impossible to judge the flora of the planet based on the available data. It seems that some of its signs can be detected in other panoramas.
Regardless of the specific biophysical mechanism operating on the surface of Venus, at temperatures of incident T1 and outgoing T2 radiation, the thermodynamic efficiency of the process (efficiency ν = (T1 - T2)/T1) should be somewhat lower than on Earth, since T2 = 290 K for Earth and T2 = 735 K for Venus. In addition, due to the strong absorption of the blue-violet part of the spectrum in the atmosphere, the maximum of solar radiation on Venus is shifted to the green-orange region and, according to Wien’s law, corresponds to a lower effective temperature T1 = 4900 K (at Earth T1 = 5770 K). In this regard, Mars has the most favorable conditions for life.
Conclusion about the mysteries of Venus
Due to interest in the possible habitability of a certain class of exoplanets with moderately high surface temperatures, the results of television studies of the surface of Venus, carried out in the Venera 9 missions in 1975 and Venera 13 in 1982, were carefully reconsidered. The planet Venus was considered as a natural high-temperature laboratory. Along with previously published images, panoramas that were not previously included in the main processing were studied. They show objects of appreciable size appearing, changing or disappearing, from a decimeter to half a meter, the random appearance of images of which cannot be explained. Possible evidence was discovered that some of the objects found, which had a complex regular structure, were partially covered with soil thrown out during the landing of the device, and were slowly released from it.
An interesting question is: what energy sources could life use in the high-temperature, non-oxidizing atmosphere of the planet? It is assumed that, like Earth, the source of existence of the hypothetical fauna of Venus should be its hypothetical flora, which carries out a special type of photosynthesis, and some of its samples can be found in other panoramas.
The television cameras of the Venus devices were not intended to photograph possible inhabitants of Venus. A special mission to search for life on Venus should be significantly more complex.
The more new things we learn about Venus, the more new problems arise. Here is one of them: how to explain such a significant difference in the chemical composition of the atmospheres of neighboring planets - Earth and Venus?
Millions of years ago, the atmosphere of our planet was also abundantly saturated with carbon dioxide released from the bowels of the earth during volcanic eruptions. But with the appearance of plants on Earth, carbon dioxide became more and more bound up, as it was used to form plant mass. The high content of free carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus apparently indicates that there has never been organic life there, similar to that on Earth. Consequently, the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a neighboring planet is a completely natural phenomenon. And the fact that Venus has very high temperatures is also not an accident.
The excessively high temperature on the planet is explained by the so-called greenhouse effect. The physical essence of this phenomenon is that the surface of Venus, heated by the sun's rays, releases energy in the infrared (thermal) range. But the dense carbon dioxide atmosphere of Venus, with a small admixture of water vapor, is almost completely opaque to infrared rays. As a result, excess heat accumulates - a greenhouse effect is created, as a result of which the surface of the planet and the adjacent atmosphere heat up.
The high temperature also caused other features of the unusual world of Venus. As is known, at a temperature of 374 °C, water enters a so-called critical state, when it completely turns into steam, regardless of the atmospheric pressure. Consequently, open bodies of water on Venus could only be located at high latitudes (not lower than 60 parallels), where the temperature does not reach a critical value. Therefore, it could be assumed that the polar “caps” of Venus, unlike those on Earth and Mars, are... hot seas! From the rest of the very hot Venusian surface, the water would certainly evaporate.
It has now been precisely established that there are no water pools on Venus. And there is too little water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere. The question arises: where did the water disappear? What is the reason for such severe dehydration of the Venusian atmosphere?
Academician Alexander Pavlovich Vinogradov explained the disappearance of water from the atmosphere of Venus by an enhanced (due to the planet’s proximity to the Sun) photochemical process. As a result, the evaporated water decomposed into its constituent elements: oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen oxidized rocks, and light hydrogen atoms evaporated from the atmosphere into interplanetary space. Moreover, the dispersion of hydrogen on Venus is favored by slightly lower gravity and high temperature than on Earth. All this was bound to inevitably lead the planet to “drying out.”
And yet, the decomposition of water vapor under the influence of solar ultraviolet radiation could not lead to such a strong drying of the Venusian atmosphere. Whatever you say, the question of the disappearance of water on Venus remains a big mystery for us.
Venus's lack of a noticeable magnetic field of its own is entirely consistent with its very slow rotation. Even if Venus's core is similar to the Earth's core, the planet's rotation speed is too low for internal currents capable of generating a magnetic field to arise in its core.
The structure of the interior of Venus is apparently similar to the structure of the Earth. But the power of the heat flow coming from the depths of Venus corresponds approximately to the values noted on Earth in volcanic areas.
A comparison of Venus with Earth would be incomplete if we did not touch upon the possibility of life on this neighboring planet. The biggest obstacle to life on Venus is the extremely high temperature. And atmospheric pressure cannot be discounted. It's easy to say, living beings located on the Venusian surface must constantly experience 90 atmospheres! Not every deep-sea bathyscaphe is in such difficult conditions as everything that can be at the bottom of the air ocean of Venus, consisting of compressed carbon dioxide. The English scientist Bernard Lovell characterizes the natural conditions of the planet this way: “On Venus, aliens will find a hot, poisonous and inhospitable environment.”
And yet we have no right to completely exclude the possibility of life on this planet. It is known that with distance from the surface of Venus, atmospheric pressure drops and temperature decreases, decreasing by about 8 °C with each kilometer of altitude. Thus, at the main peak of the Maxwell Mountains the temperature should be almost 100 °C lower than at the foot. However, even here it continues to remain high and amounts to about 300 °C.
Until recently, it was believed that at such a temperature life, even the simplest, becomes completely impossible. But let’s not rush to such a categorical conclusion. Let us at least remember that hot springs with a temperature of 300 °C were discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the Galapagos Islands. And what is surprising: living microorganisms were found in these sources. Why not admit that life in its most primitive form may even exist on Venus? Of course, not on the hot surface of the planet, but in those layers of the Venusian atmosphere where physical conditions are close to those on Earth, that is, where the temperature is +20 "C at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. On Venus, such conditions developed somewhere at an altitude of about 50 km above surface of the planet. But how to get rid of excess carbon dioxide and enrich the Venusian atmosphere with oxygen? How to eliminate the greenhouse effect?
American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) believed that a radical restructuring of the atmosphere of Venus and ridding the planet of the greenhouse effect is a very real thing. To do this, only one thing is required: to establish photosynthesis. And in the atmosphere of Venus there is everything necessary for the production of photosynthesis on the widest scale: carbon dioxide, water vapor, sunlight. Therefore, the scientist proposed to throw a rapidly reproducing algae, chlorella, into the upper, relatively cool layers of the Venusian atmosphere using spacecraft. It will clear the atmosphere of excess carbon dioxide and replenish it with oxygen. Deprived of carbon dioxide, the atmosphere will no longer be a trap for solar energy. When the greenhouse effect weakens, the temperature decreases, water vapor condenses into water, which spills abundantly onto the cooling surface of the planet. This will further reduce the greenhouse effect, and then conditions favorable for the development of flora and fauna will appear on Venus. Over time, the climate of the inhospitable planet will change so much that it may become suitable for human habitation.
Many researchers claim that life once existed on Venus - but as a result of natural or cosmic disasters, extremely high temperatures on the surface of the planet destroyed all or almost all plants and organisms. Scientists are asking questions: what could have happened? And doesn’t a similar fate await our Earth?
Sister of the Earth
What do we even know about Venus? A lot - and almost nothing.
After 1983, no spacecraft were landed on the surface of Venus (several American spacecraft flew past it on their way to Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury and transmitted data clarifying the composition of the atmosphere). But the study of the second planet from the Sun did not stop. Rather, on the contrary - quite recently, Russian scientists confirmed that they have been actively working for 30 years, systematizing all the data received.
In 2012, the chief researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leonid Ksanfomality, stated that life exists not only in the atmosphere, but also on the surface of Venus! This conclusion can be made after many years of studying images transmitted by landers in 1975 and 1982. They were processed using the latest equipment, removing all possible interference.
According to Leonid Ksanfomality, the objects “disk”, “scorpion”, “black flap”, “owl” and others are living creatures that, due to the landing of the module, left their habitat and then returned back. Not all experts agree with this hypothesis, but no one has yet proposed any other logical explanations (other than interference or equipment failure). The flight of the Russian Venera-D spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2026, will help clarify the question of the presence of life on this planet. There won't be long to wait for the grand opening.
Venus is a hot planet and organic life on its surface is impossible. Venusians live in the Subtle World of the planet. There, in the Subtle World of Venus, there are no animals, no, also insects. But there are birds and fish of indescribable colors. There are no insects or predators on Venus at all. There is a real kingdom of flights there. Birds fly, people fly, and even fish. Moreover, birds understand human speech.
Humanity of Venus belongs to the seventh circle of evolution, that is, it is three circles ahead of earthlings (about 2 million years of evolution). People's bodies are astral. There are eight races, the leading one being the Hathors. Outwardly they look like earthlings. The height of men is up to 6 m, women are slightly smaller. Large blue eyes, their ears are a very important organ, they are like the fins of fish. Nutrition comes through the sense of smell - the smells of flowers, stems, and roots of plants are inhaled. In this regard, a lot of breeding work is being carried out on plants. Children are not born from the mother's body, but next to her in the crib. The born baby corresponds in development to an earthly seven-year-old child. The time will come and earthly women will create children just like Venusians. People die there too. In the process, their bodies disintegrate into the air. The Hathors live for about 25,000 years, after which they fly to a more developed planet, most often to the planets of Sirius.
There has been a Community on Venus for a long time. Lies have been eliminated, and accordingly there are no many monitoring and security services. There are no locks, bars or prisons. There is nothing secret, because all thoughts are easily read from each other. Therefore, there is no need to voice words, and conversations are conducted mentally. They use the sound they make to perform physical work, heal, and drive vehicles. Research work is underway to master the subtlest cosmic energies. There is no radio, television or other similar technology on the planet - everything necessary is perceived directly by a person’s senses and moves by the power of his thoughts.
(based on materials from T. Mironenko)
Venus is a hot, gaseous, toxic planet at third and fourth density levels, but in fifth and sixth density one can find an abundance of majestic cities of Light with beautiful crystalline architecture and indescribably colorful gardens, fountains and squares.
Venus has two levels of vibration - the fifth and sixth, ascended masters call it a "transfer station." This is because it contains a "step down" portal allowing beings from the ascended realms (seventh density and higher) to communicate and interact with souls on Earth who have achieved fourth density composite vibration and fifth density consciousness.
It is usually quite difficult for a seventh density ascended being to descend three levels in order to interact with a fourth density soul on Earth. To make themselves more accessible, higher beings use a way station to temporarily lower frequencies before attempting telepathic contact with their channels. A few souls on Earth have evolved to the point where this is not necessary, but the portal is still heavily used to make the experience flow much more easily.
Souls growing and evolving on Venus reside in fifth-density crystalline bodies and sixth-density radiant causal bodies. You can visit them in your dreams or in meditation. The first spiritual mentor of the channel - Leah - lives in the sixth density of Venus.
Venusian social systems and cultures gravitate toward creativity, art, music, dance, and other “right-brain” activities. Science is important, but not predominant. Much of the activity of the Venusian society is centered on the support of the mystery schools and temples of Light scattered throughout the planet. They train souls before incarnating on Earth, orient souls who have recently ascended spiritually or physically in crystalline bodies of light. The latter function is a recent one as few people achieved physical ascension prior to the portal shifts on Earth.
There are no wars, poverty, or social or economic inequality on Venus. Education is the highest priority for all children. Fifth density children are conceived and born a little differently than third and fourth density children. Sixth density children "manifest" through energetic fusion between sixth density couples, rather than through incarnation through the birth canal.
(Earth Awakens) Sal Rachel and the Founders
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