研究表明，金星可能在數十億年前就存在生命

研究表明，金星可能在數十億年前就存在生命

Although it’s possible Mars once supported life, Earth is the only planet in the solar system currently known to do so. However, a new study notes that Venus may have been habitable for a few billion years — until something mysterious happened.

雖然火星可能曾經有生命存在，但地球是太陽系中目前已知的唯一有生命存在的行星。然而，一項新的研究指出，金星可能已經居住了幾十億年，直到神秘的事情發(fā)生。

The research, presented at the European Planetary Science Congress — Division for Planetary Sciences Joint Meeting 2019, notes that Venus potentially had stable temperatures and was home to “liquid water” for 2 billion to 3 billion years, until a “dramatic transformation” started happening more than 700 million years ago that completely reshaped the planet and resurfaced approximately 80 percent of it.

這項研究在2019年歐洲行星科學大會-行星科學分部聯(lián)席會議上發(fā)表，指出金星可能有穩(wěn)定的溫度，在20億至30億年內是“液態(tài)水”的發(fā)源地，直到7億多年前一場“戲劇性的轉變”，徹底重塑了這顆星球，并使大約80%的地面重新出現(xiàn)。

“Our hypothesis is that Venus may have had a stable climate for billions of years. It is possible that the near-global resurfacing event is responsible for its transformation from an Earth-like climate to the hellish hot-house we see today,” said Dr. Michael Way, the study’s lead author, in a statement.

“我們的假設是，金星可能有一個存在了數十億年穩(wěn)定的氣候。”這項研究的主要作者邁克爾·韋博士在一份聲明中說:“這次近全球范圍的重新浮出水面事件，很可能是導致它從類似地球的氣候，轉變?yōu)槲覀兘裉炜吹降牡鬲z般的溫室的原因。”

Coming back to the present day, Venus has a surface temperature of 864 degrees Fahrenheit. However, in the five outcomes that Way and the researchers ran for the study, they found that Venus was able to maintain stable temperature scenarios between minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) and 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) for approximately 3 billion years.

回到今天，金星的表面溫度為864華氏度。然而，在研究人員進行這項研究的五個結果中，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)金星能夠在零下20攝氏度(-4華氏度)到50攝氏度(122華氏度)之間保持穩(wěn)定的溫度，持續(xù)了大約30億年。

Then something mysterious caused a mass explosion of carbon dioxide on the planet between 700 million and 750 million years ago, an event that Way believes could be linked to the volcanic activity on the planet.

然后，在7億到7.5億年前，某個神秘的東西導致了金星上二氧化碳的大規(guī)模爆炸，人們認為這一事件可能與金星上的火山活動有關。

“Something happened on Venus where a huge amount of gas was released into the atmosphere and couldn’t be re-absorbed by the rocks,” Way added.

“金星上發(fā)生了一些事情，大量的氣體被釋放到大氣中，無法被巖石重新吸收。”韋博士補充道。

“On Earth, we have some examples of large-scale outgassing, for instance, the creation of the Siberian Traps 500 million years ago which is linked to a mass extinction, but nothing on this scale. It completely transformed Venus.”

“在地球上，我們有一些大規(guī)模放氣的例子，例如，5億年前西伯利亞圈閉的形成，這與大規(guī)模滅絕有關，但沒有發(fā)生過如此大規(guī)模的放氣,它徹底改變了金星。”

Venus is closer to the sun and its extreme surface temperature makes the existence of liquid water on the planet a moot point. But during the simulations, the researchers added an ocean 310 meters (1,017 feet) deep, one that was 10 meters (32 feet) deep, as well as putting some water in the soil.

金星離太陽更近，其極端的表面溫度使得這顆行星上液態(tài)水的存在成為一個懸而未決的問題。但在模擬過程中，研究人員添加了一個310米(1017英尺)深的海洋，一個10米(32英尺)深的海洋，并在土壤中注入一些水。

There was also a scenario where they used Earth’s topography and the 1,017-foot-deep ocean, as well as a planet “completely covered” by an ocean 158 meters (518 feet) deep, and found that even though Venus is closer to the sun than the Earth, liquid water could have been present.

還有一個場景，他們利用地球的地形和1017英尺深的海洋，以及一顆被158米(518英尺)深的海洋“完全覆蓋”的行星，發(fā)現(xiàn)即使金星比地球離太陽更近，也可能存在液態(tài)水。

“Venus currently has almost twice the solar radiation that we have at Earth,” said Way.

韋博士說:“金星目前的太陽輻射幾乎是地球的兩倍。”

“However, in all the scenarios we have modeled, we have found that Venus could still support surface temperatures amenable for liquid water.”

“然而，在我們所模擬的所有場景中，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)金星表面的溫度仍然適合液態(tài)水。”

Whether it was the planet’s volcanic activity or something else, Venus is now too hot to be supportive of liquid water. Way said more research is needed to understand the planet’s history and how it might affect the search for exoplanets, including ones that may hold liquid water.

“無論是火星的火山活動還是其他原因，金星現(xiàn)在太熱了，無法支持液態(tài)水的存在。”韋博士說，需要更多的研究來了解這顆行星的歷史，以及它可能如何影響尋找系外行星，包括那些可能含有液態(tài)水的行星。

“We need more missions to study Venus and get a more detailed understanding of its history and evolution,” Way said.

韋博士說:“我們需要更多的任務來研究金星，更詳細地了解它的歷史和演變。”

“However, our models show that there is a real possibility that Venus could have been habitable and radically different from the Venus we see today. This opens up all kinds of implications for exoplanets found in what is called the ‘Venus Zone,’ which may, in fact, host liquid water and temperate climates.”

“然而，我們的模型顯示，確實存在一種可能性，那就是金星可能是宜居的，而且與我們今天看到的金星截然不同。這為在所謂的‘金星帶’中發(fā)現(xiàn)的系外行星提供了各種各樣的線索。事實上，金星帶可能存在液態(tài)水和溫帶氣候。”

Earlier this month, scientists detected water vapor in the atmosphere of a “super-Earth” exoplanet with potentially habitable temperatures, K2-18b, 110 light-years from Earth.

本月早些時候，科學家在距地球110光年的一顆“超級地球”系外行星的大氣層中,發(fā)現(xiàn)了水蒸氣。