Orbiter Finds Evidence of Far-Off Water Vapor

According to a high powered telescope, it appears that water vapors have been found on a far away planet. This planet orbits a far away star, and is gassy, but the telescope was able to detect water vapors inside the gasses of the enormous planet.

The suspect planet is even larger than our own planet Jupiter, the largest in out solar system. This far away planet is not suspected of harboring any life forms itself, but it serves as a hope to scientists that life may exist on smaller planets closer to other distant suns.

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, orbiting the sun, was the telescope to pick up this highly useful information. Nature journal was the first place to publish the findings of this telescope. This telescope operates off of infrared signals, which are translated into visual pictures and interpreted by NASA scientists.

The suspected planet is 63 million light years away. The Spitzer telescope clearly shows water vapors evaporating from the surface of the planet. These steam vapors surround the planet because it is one of the hottest discovered so far. The average temperature of the planet is more than 1700 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are over 300 planets that have been discovered outside of our solar system since 1995. Scientists are excited about this particular planet more than others because it proves that water is present in other places in the universe.

The steamed planet has been dubbed, “HD189733b,” but may soon hold a different name due to its importance in the scientific world. The main elements that form this planet are helium and hydrogen. It is part of the constellation Vulpecula.

The Hubble space telescope has also detected different elements on planet HD189733b. The Hubble telescope may have found methane and carbon dioxide. These elements are necessary for an earth-like atmosphere, and are necessary for all life on our planet. NASA is excited that the Hubble telescope can pick up these compounds as it means that it will be easier for scientists to discover the make-up of other planets.

Some scientists such as Drake Deming, in charge of the Goddard Space Flight Center, believe that this may lead to the discovery of additional planets with differing life forms. He was quoted saying, “this habitable super-earth may be a bizarre and unfamiliar world, hosting ‘life as we don’t know it.” Deming believes that larger planets circling red dwarf planets may just hold a form of life we have never seen.

Red dwarf planets are small stars closer to our earth. Many of these have larger planets or suns surrounding them. These planets and stars are suspected of having all kind of different life forms and elemental compounds.