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For the first time, astronomers discovered traces of water in the atmosphere of a planet at 111 light-years away, at about 650 million kilometers, asking questions about life at its surface.
The new blue planet has been dubbed K2-18B and new telescopes within 10 years could determine whether its atmosphere contains gases that can be produced by living things.
The details were published in the journal Nature Astronomy, according to a report published on the BBC website.
The principal investigator on the planet, Professor Giovanna Tenetti, a professor at University College London, described the discovery as "spectacular".
"It's the first time we discover water on a planet in the region where we can live around a star whose temperature corresponds to life," she said. .
The area that can be inhabited is the area around a star where the temperature allows the water to be in a liquid state on the surface of a planet.
The only option is to wait for the next generation of space telescopes, which will be launched in the next 10 years, and to see in the air gases that can only be produced by living organisms, said Ingo Waldman, professor at University College London.
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"This is one of the biggest scientific questions and we have always wondered if we are alone in the universe," Waldman said.
The Planet Investigation Team explored the Hubble Space Telescope between 2016 and 2017.
The researchers identified certain chemicals in their atmosphere by studying the change of starlight as the stars revolved around their suns.
The light that goes through the atmosphere of the planet changes because of the composition of the atmosphere.
The molecular structure of water has only been revealed in K2-18B, an essential component of life on Earth.
A computer generated data model suggested that water could account for 50% of the atmosphere.
The size of the new planet is about twice that of the Earth and its temperature allows the water to be in the liquid state, between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius.
Angelus Tsarias, a member of the University College London team, said finding water on a planet fit for life was "incredibly exciting".
"It brings us closer to the answer to the key question: Is the Earth a unique planet?" Said Tsariyas.
The K2-18B was discovered in 2015 and is one of hundreds of Earth planets at Neptune discovered by NASA's Kepler probe.
NASA's Tess mission is expected to find hundreds of other planets in the coming years.
The research was funded by the European Research Council and the British Council for Science and Technology.
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