Planetary atmospheres and life in the Universe

The ground-breaking discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus by an international team led by Professor Jane Greaves is the first possible evidence for life beyond Earth.

The search for biomarkers like phosphine in planet and exoplanet atmospheres will be the main way humans look for life elsewhere in the universe for the next generation.' The Astronomy Instrumentation Group will be using the ESA ARIEL space mission, the NASA EXCITE balloon mission, and Twinkle, a low-orbit satellite mission, to continue to study the atmospheres of exoplanets.