Astronomers have detected water in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system for the first time.
The finding, to be detailed in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal,
confirms previous theories that say water vapor should be present in
the atmospheres of nearly all the known extrasolar planets. Even hot Jupiters, gaseous planets that orbit closer to their stars than Mercury to our Sun, are thought to have water.
The discovery, announced today, means one of the most crucial elements for life as we know it can exist around planets orbiting other stars.
“We know that water vapor exists in the
atmospheres of one extrasolar planet and there is good reason to
believe that other extrasolar planets contain water vapor,” said
Travis Barman, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona who
made the discovery.
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