Signs of Water Found on Distant Planets
Italian astronomers have found signs of water, a necessary ingredient for life, in the atmosphere of planets orbiting distant stars.

September 18, 2002

Having water does not mean other planets will be teeming with life but if the discovery is confirmed it will fuel speculation that it could be possible.

"This would be a historic discovery -- the first detection of a prebiotic molecule in an extrasolar planet," Cristiano Cosmovici, of the Institute for Cosmic and Planetary Science in Rome, told New Scientist magazine on Wednesday.

His team used a 32-meter radio telescope to search for water maser emissions, telltale microwaves which could indicate water in a planet's atmosphere when it is bathed in the infrared light of its star.

Cosmovici said his team found the emissions in three planetary systems.

Hugh Jones, of Liverpool John Moores University, said it could be an exciting first step in the search for signs of life on other planets.

"Water's at the top of the shopping list of ingredients for life," he told the magazine.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/09/18/planets.water.reut/index.html