Hubble Space Telescope discovers water vapor in a small Venus-like exoplanet outside solar system

Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a hot and tiny exoplanet with signs of water vapours! The shocking revelation by the Hubble Telescope has stunned astronomers.

A recent study revealed that a relatively small and hot exoplanet consists of water vapour in its atmosphere.

The exoplanet or extra-solar planet is located outside of our solar system and it is said to be extremely steamy making it inhospitable to life.

Space.com reported that the exoplanet is named GJ 9872d and has a Venus-like temperature ranging to 400 degrees Celsius. 

The discovery was made with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope. Experts said, “The discovery of water on GJ 9827d is exciting because it’s the smallest planet yet where we've detected an atmosphere.”

However, the exoplanet is twice the size of Earth as it orbits around a star named GJ 987 which is located 97 light-years away from our planet.

This exoplanet is expected to be 6 billion years old and it will help researchers get a deeper understanding of such steamy rocky planets.

Experts also believe the exoplanet could be half water and half rock, however, there is still uncertainty about its atmosphere.

Now the exoplanet GJ 9827d will be studied with the James Webb Space Telescope to understand more about its atmospheric composition.

Additionally, the research will also include discovering other elements in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide.