Press release: Spectacular increase in the deuterium/hydrogen ratio in Venus’ atmosphere
Figure. Diagram of the proposed Venus mesospheric water cycle mechanism to sustain the observed HDO and H2O VMR and HDO/H2O ratio increase with altitude. ©Mathieux et al.
Thanks to observations by the Venus Express space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA), an international research group led by Arnaud Mahiuex, a researcher at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Hiroki Karyu, a PhD student, and Assoc. Prof. Hiromu Nakagawa, at this laboratory, has discovered an unexpected increase in the abundances of two water molecule variants – H2O and HDO – and their ratio HDO/H2O in Venus’ mesosphere. The researchers proposed a new mechanism of Venus’ mesospheric water cycle that involves the behavior of hydrated sulphuric acid (H2SO4) aerosols. The new water cycle mechanism involving aerosols will deepen our understanding of Venus’ water history and habitability. These results were published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on August 12, 2024.
For more information, please see the press release from The Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University.
Title: Unexpected increase of the deuterium to hydrogen ratio in the Venus mesosphere
Authors: Arnaud Mahieux, S. Viscardy, R. V. Yelle, H. Karyu, S. Chamberlain, S. Robert, A. Piccialli, L. Trompet, J. T. Erwin, S. Ubukata, H. Nakagawa, S. Koyama, R. Maggiolo, N. Pereira, G. Cessateur, Y. Willame, and A. C. Vandaele
Journal: Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2401638121
