First Methane Spotted on Distant Planet

March 19, 2008 -- Astronomers on Wednesday announced they had detected methane in the atmosphere of a planet 63 light-years away, boosting prospects for identifying any life that exists beyond our solar system.

The team also confirmed previous suspicions that the planet, known by the tag of HD 189733b, has water in its atmosphere.

Reporting their work in the weekly British journal Nature, astronomers from NASA's (JPL) used the orbiting U.S.-European Hubble telescope to get an infrared spectroscopic signature of the planet's atmosphere.

Spectroscopy entails breaking light into its components to reveal the "fingerprints" of chemicals it contains.

They found an unmistakable signature for methane, a molecule of carbon and hydrogen that can in some conditions play a key role in creating the conditions for life.

In this case, life on HD 189733b is almost certainly out of the question.

The planet, located in the constellation of Vulpecula, or the Little Fox, is one of a type of large planets called "hot Jupiters," whose surface is scorched and where liquid water could not exist.

HD 189733b is closer to its star than Mercury is to the sun. It takes only two days to complete one orbit and has a sweltering temperature of 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit -- hot enough to melt silver.

What counts, though, is the achievement of spotting the methane.