Venus has long been the center of our curiosity, known for its extremely harsh environment, unbreathable atmosphere, and hellish landscape of lava flows and sulfuric acid clouds. But the planet may have a hidden secret, and that secret could help us understand what makes Venus tick.

The hottest planet in the solar system, Venus is notorious for being almost unbearably hostile to life. At 900 degrees Fahrenheit, it has the hottest surface in the Universe, and its clouds are corrosive sulfuric acid. The atmospheric pressure is 92 times what it is on Earth, and the entire planet is blanketed in a thick layer of carbon dioxide that traps heat like an inferno.

But despite being one of the most inhospitable planets in our solar system, scientists are finding that Venus was once much more similar to Earth. They’ve turned back the galactic clock to recreate Venus’s early climate and found that it was once a more pleasant place, with Earth-like temperatures and snowfall.

Scientists have been speculating on whether Venus might once have supported life. But this new study offers compelling evidence that it’s unlikely and suggests that if we find life in the Universe, it will likely have to come from somewhere else.

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Space physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have made a stunning discovery that may change everything we thought we knew about Venus. In a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters, the team provided compelling evidence that lightning does not frequently occur on Venus, contrary to long-standing scientific debates.

They did so by analyzing signals sent back from Parker Solar Probe’s FIELDS experiment, which consists of electric and magnetic sensors that stick out from the spacecraft. When the probe passes close to Venus, these sensors detect whistler waves that can reveal details about Venus’s electrically charged atmosphere.

The team also analyzed the Venusian atmosphere’s chemistry by studying its clouds’ chemical composition and particle size. Using this information, the researchers concluded that the clouds mainly comprise sulfuric acid droplets. However, in the lower layers of the clouds, some traces of phosphoric acid and other compounds may have the potential to support thermoacidophilic extremophile microorganisms.

To learn more about the chemistry of Venus’s atmosphere, the team will continue to analyze data from the Parker Solar Probe, which is currently performing seven record-breaking flybys of the Sun and Venus. During these flybys, the probe is slowly tightening its elliptical orbit and moving closer to the Sun than any previous mission. A high-tech heat shield protects the probe from the scorching radiation and heat of the corona, allowing its instruments to operate at a more comfortable room temperature.

The findings from the CU Boulder study have implications for understanding the Sun, its corona, and how it interacts with its rotation. They’ll also be critical for predicting extreme space weather events that can disrupt telecommunications and damage satellites around the globe.