Scents of other habitable worlds?

[PlutonianEmpire]

I was thinking about the scenarios of stepping onto other habitable worlds, and assuming a safe-to-breathe air, was wondering, what scents might one experience when visiting them?

Like, might each planet have its own unique scent, as such that natives can't smell it (assuming they have the ability to smell), but non-natives (such as us) can, as well as vice versa (where Earth might have a unique smell that we can't detect but visitors might be able to)?

Or is it more likely among the realm of science fiction?

[Veiligo]

I think you could decide this if you could tell what kind of odorants would be emitted into the atmosphere on that world. But I suppose you would have to know the atmospheric composition, what kind of soil, vegetation, or animal life is present, and that would probably vary a lot from location to location.

Also, if you are talking about the natives on an alien planet being able to tell the difference between their own planet and ours, it would depend on whether they had any olfactory sense, and how good that sense is.

If you're going to imagine a scenario, for whatever reason, then I think imagining how it smells is very important, because that can really bring something alive in your mind. Think how close smell and memory are related.

[Bob Angstrom]

Even parts of our own planet have have smells that visitors stepping off a plane can notice but natives are no longer aware of. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide may perfume the air on many planets.

[Romanus]

I've wondered about this many times: the sensory experiences that we take so for granted that we couldn't even notice them without going offworld. Another hypothetical: how would their oceans taste? Sure, sodium and chloride are common and have long residence times on Earth, but there might be enough variation on other worlds for some flavors exotic to us.

[PlutonianEmpire]

I've wondered about this many times: the sensory experiences that we take so for granted that we couldn't even notice them without going offworld. Another hypothetical: how would their oceans taste? Sure, sodium and chloride are common and have long residence times on Earth, but there might be enough variation on other worlds for some flavors exotic to us.

Another thing that comes to my mind reading that is sound. The science fiction world I'm depicting in a short story I'm writing, I'm planning on working into the story that the insect populations create the "most beautiful night-time choruses in this part of the galaxy," so I'm sure that while Earthlike worlds may have some sounds in common (such as waves crashing on a beach, and so forth), whatever life out there may have a lot to add to the experience of a visitor from off-world, with new sights, sounds, scents, touch, etc.