--- title: "Astronomers Spot Water — and Maybe Rain — on a Distant Planet" description: "A team of researchers have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of an exoplanet nine times Earth's mass and 111 light years away." date: "2019-09-11" modified: "2019-09-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/researchers-water-vapor-super-earth-atmosphere" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Exoplanets" - "Kepler" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Astronomers Spot Water — and Maybe Rain — on a Distant Planet ![A team of researchers have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of an exoplanet nine times Earth's mass and 111 light years away.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Water Detected Detecting liquid water on exoplanets is a big deal, since it suggests that they could harbor life — and the more water worlds we spot, the closer we get to confirming that we're not alone in the universe. Now, a team of researchers from the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the Université de Montréal have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of an exoplanet nine times Earth's mass and 111 light years away. ## Rainy Planet A summary of the team's findings, which are based on data collected by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, was published this week as a [preprint](). The planet, named K2-18b and discovered by NASA's [Kepler's space telescope]() in 2015, is as far away from its star as Earth is from the Sun, meaning it receives a similar amount of energy. That — alongside complex climate models drawn up by the team using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope — means that the water vapor has the potential to form into liquid water clouds in the planet's atmosphere and precipitate from its sky as rain. ## Ultimate Goal Scientists don't know if life would be able to survive on K2-18b, but they're hailing the discovery as a breakthrough. "This represents the biggest step yet taken towards our ultimate goal of finding life on other planets, of proving that we are not alone," Björn Benneke, lead author and professor at the Université de Montréal said in [a statement](). "Thanks to our observations and our climate model of this planet, we have shown that its water vapour can condense into liquid water. This is a first." **READ MORE:** [ Water detected on an exoplanet located in its star's habitable zone]() \[University of Montreal\] **More on exoplanets:** *[NASA Just Released an Incredible Map of All Known Exoplanets]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()