Water is found 64 light years away from Earth

Water has been discovered on a planet beyond our solar system for the first time, enhancing the prospect that life could be found elsewhere in the Universe.

Observations with the orbiting Spitzer space telescope allowed astronomers to detected water vapour in the atmosphere of a gas giant 64 light years away from Earth, an international team led by a British university reported yesterday.

The planet has the unromantic name HD 189733b and orbits a star in the constellation of Vulpecula, the Fox. Although the Jupiter-like planet on which water has been identified is not likely to be habitable – it is composed chiefly of gas and it is so close to its parent star that parts of its atmosphere are as hot as 2,000C (3,630F) – the discovery suggests that water may be a common presence on planets throughout the galaxy.

The same techniques that were used to pick up the signature of water could also be used to examine more promising homes for life, particularly on smaller, rocky, Earth-like worlds once more powerful telescopes are able to find them.

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