More than a month after the announcement that traces of the rare molecule phosphine (PH 3 ) were discovered in the atmosphere of Venus, there is increasing contradiction. For example, those responsible for one of the telescopes used for the analysis have meanwhile withdrawn the data for review. Meanwhile, a group of researchers from the Netherlands did their own review of the data and was unable to identify a “statistically significant discovery” of the molecule. In addition, there is a controversy surrounding a statement from the ranks of the International Astronomical Union in which the researchers were criticized unusually clearly.

Phosphine on Venus!? The background to the debates is the result of an analysis of the atmosphere of Venus published in mid-September. The group of astronomers found there with monophosphine or phosphine (PH 3 ) a molecule that occurs on earth only as an industrial product or is produced by microbes. According to their own statements, they were able to rule out many alternative possibilities of formation, but that is not a confirmation of life on the second planet of the solar system, they made clear. They found the first traces with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), which they were able to confirm with the Atacama Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Array (ALMA) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The astrobiological commission of the International Astronomical Union took offense at the reporting on the find and the possible consequences. Some media reported that “evidence of life on Venus” had been found, a statement said. All researchers would therefore be reminded to understand how the media works in order to prevent such harmful exaggerations. This had been understood as a criticism of the researchers, who had pointed out very clearly that it was not proof of life on Venus. The IAU later distanced itself from the statement taken offline, the authors apologized.

A controversy and a contradiction While this controversy was primarily about public relations, the data itself later came into focus. Last week, those responsible for the giant ALMA telescope announced that a “possible problem” had been discovered with the data collected there. They would therefore be checked again carefully, the scientists had been informed. Until this analysis is completed, it is also completely unclear whether the possible problem has an impact on research on the phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. The data were temporarily taken offline at the same time, which was criticized by some observers.

Even in the original data, a team of researchers led by Ignas Snellen from the University of Leiden had no “statistically significant evidence of phosphine “. They do this in a research paper that has been submitted to the specialist journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, but has not yet been reviewed. With the procedure originally carried out, several different results are possible, which have comparable probabilities, without all pointing to phosphine. Post-processed ALMA data would not even have any