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Evidence of water vapor "raining down" on a newly forming star system is offering the first direct look at how water likely gets incorporated into planets, NASA researchers announced........
The water—enough to fill Earth's oceans five times over—falls at supersonic speeds in the form of a hail-like substance from the envelope of dust and gas that gave birth to the star.
Of the 30 embryonic star systems observed with Spitzer, only IRAS 4B showed signs of water vapor.
According to Watson, this is most likely because the protostar's axis points almost directly at Earth.
A high-powered space telescope has caught what researchers are saying is the first clear sign of water on a planet outside our solar system.
The planet, known as HD 189733b, is a gas giant similar to Jupiter.
The planet's atmosphere absorbs certain wavelengths of the starlight, depending on the particular chemicals—such as water—that might be present.
The wavelengths that are missing from the light that reaches Earth reveal the chemical fingerprint of the exoplanet's atmosphere.
Originally posted by DarkSide
That's amazing. From what I understand the water is one of the elements that formed the cloud from which the star system formed in the first place.