- LONDON (Reuters) - Italian astronomers have found
signs of water, a necessary ingredient for life, in the atmosphere of planets
orbiting distant stars.
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- 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.
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- "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 Wednesday.
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- His team used a 32-yard 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.
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- Cosmovici said his team found the emissions in three
planetary systems.
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- 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.
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- "Water's at the top of the shopping list of ingredients
for life," he told the magazine.
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