An international group of scientists discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of an approximately four times greater than Earth planet located outside our solar system. It is the first time that researchers can identify chemical compounds in the atmosphere of such a small planet. The study was published in yesterday’s edition of the journal Nature
The work was led by astronomer Drake Deming of the University of Maryland (United States), who specializes in the study of exoplanets -. Those who are called as have orbits around stars outside our solar system.
The exoplanet, called HAT P-11b, is the direction of the constellation Cygnus, about 124 light years from Earth. In the study, space telescopes Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler were used.
The search for water on exoplanets is considered important to astronomers because its presence, though not guarantee the emergence of life, is a precondition for its existence. The exoplanet HAT P-11b is about the size of Neptune, a mantle of ice, and a gaseous atmosphere.
The information is the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.
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