Scientists discovered a Venus-like world that might not be a hellhole (2025)

FAQs

What makes Venus an uninhabitable world? ›

Although not currently habitable, Venus lies within the Sun's "Goldilocks zone," and may have been habitable before Earth. Contrary to its serene appearance, Venus is a world of intense heat, crushing atmospheric pressure and clouds of corrosive acid.

Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. Venus is similar in structure and size to Earth, and is sometimes called Earth's evil twin. Its thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead.

Most astronomers feel that it would be impossible for life to exist on Venus. Today, Venus is a very hostile place. It is a very dry planet with no evidence of water, its surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead, and its atmosphere is so thick that the air pressure on its surface is over 90 times that on Earth.

Exploring the surface of Venus is difficult because of the intense heat and crushing air pressure. The longest any spacecraft has survived on the surface is a little over two hours – a record set by the Soviet Union's Venera 13 probe in 1981.

However, the question remained whether Venus started its life as a more habitable planet before a runaway greenhouse gas effect baked it dry. But a new study from the University of Chicago argues there is little chance the planet was ever habitable.

No chance, says new NASA study. New research has debunked a 2020 study that claimed to have found the chemical phosphine, a potential biomarker for extraterrestrial life, in Venus' atmosphere.

The Moon is the only other place humans have visited. No other planet in our solar system currently has the conditions to support life as we know it on Earth.

Because liquid water is the key to life as we know it, if Venus had water on its surface for billions of years it's possible that microbial life emerged during that time. We don't know for sure, though, and looking for evidence of past life on Venus is almost impossible with current technologies.

Newly Discovered Planet May Be Able to Support Human Life

Scientists have discovered a new planet that may be able to support human life, according to a new study. The study, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Thursday, named the new planet Gliese 12 b.

It has a dense, toxic atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid, creating a runaway greenhouse effect. Venus' surface temperature averages around 465°C (870°F), hotter than the surface of Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, and far too hot for humans or known life forms to survive.

Why is Venus an unlikely place for life? ›

Venus is uninhabitable. It's like our planet's evil twin, with a diameter only 5% smaller than Earth's. But the average surface temperature on Venus is 464°C – high enough to melt lead. Its surface is dotted with lava-spewing volcanoes.

At 900 degrees Fahrenheit (482 degrees Celsius), you already know this one isn't going to be pretty. "By the way, Venus has about the same gravity as Earth, so you'd be very familiar walking around," Tyson says, "until you vaporize." Total time: Less than one second.

A study published in September 2019 concluded that Venus may have had surface water and a habitable condition for around 3 billion years and may have been in this condition until 700 to 750 million years ago.

Scientists theorize that Venus fell victim to a runaway greenhouse effect — excess carbon dioxide trapping solar heat under the blanket of its atmosphere.

Because Venus orbits the sun inside Earth's orbit, it sometimes goes between us and the sun. At such times, its lighted hemisphere, or day side, is facing away from us. Then it's difficult to see Venus at all (though experienced astrophotographers sometimes catch it).

The surface of Venus is completely inhospitable for life: barren, dry, crushed under an atmosphere about 90 times the pressure of Earth's and roasted by temperatures two times hotter than an oven.

Cataclysmic events. Between 700 and 750 million years ago, a near-global resurfacing event triggered the release of carbon dioxide from rock on the planet, which transformed its climate.

Today, the second planet from the sun has an atmosphere stifled by carbon dioxide gas, and surface temperatures that average more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. The dense atmosphere of Venus exerts a pressure of more than 1,300 pounds per square inch on anything at the surface.

Life, if ever present on Mars, may have simply died from lack of resources. Any life on Venus would have died of dehydration or by being cooked. However, terraforming may now be worth attempting on both planets: as on Earth it may be self-sustaining, even after the terraforming species becomes extinct.