PARIS: European astronomers said yesterday they had devised a technique to detect water in the atmosphere of planets orbiting other stars.
Using a telescope in Chile, they teased out a tell-tale infra-red signature from water in the atmosphere of a gassy planet called HD 189733b, which orbits its star every two days and is hot enough to melt steel.
The work is another technical breakthrough in the fast-moving field of exoplanet research, they said.
A total of 723 planets have been spotted outside our own Solar System since 1995, according to a science website puts the tally at 879.
Scientists devise new way to finds life on other planets
