Hubble Finds ‘Clear Signal’ of Water in 5 Exoplanet Atmospheres

[Judi Lynn]

Hubble Finds ‘Clear Signal’ of Water in 5 Exoplanet Atmospheres
by Nancy Atkinson on December 3, 2013

For the first time, astronomers have found conclusive evidence of water in the hazy atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, two teams of scientists found faint but clear signatures of water in the atmospheres of five exoplanets. All five are so-called ‘hot Jupiters,’ massive worlds that orbit close to their host stars.

“To actually detect the atmosphere of an exoplanet is extraordinarily difficult. But we were able to pull out a very clear signal, and it is water,” said Drake Deming from the University of Maryland, who led a study characterizing the atmospheres of two of the five planets.

“We’re very confident that we see a water signature for multiple planets,” said Avi Mandell, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and lead author of another paper on the remaining three exoplanets. “This work really opens the door for comparing how much water is present in atmospheres on different kinds of exoplanets, for example hotter versus cooler ones.”

The five planets are all well-studied, and would not be friendly places for life as we know it — with blazing temperatures and unusual conditions. WASP-17b is an unusual planet in a retrograde orbit, and sodium had already been detected in its atmosphere.

More:
http://www.universetoday.com/106900/hubble-finds-clear-signal-of-water-in-5-exoplanet-atmospheres/#ixzz2mUZRCPmr

[deutsey]

1. Wow...this should be getting a lot more media attention

Thanks for posting it!