Various: An near-infrared transmission spectrum of the planet HD 189733b indicates traces of methane. The research from Mark R. Swain, Gautam Vasisht, and Giovanna Tinetti, which was published in Nature today has led to wild speculation in the press that scientists will soon discover planets capable of supporting life.

HD 189733b is about 63 light years from Earth. In their paper the researchers confirmed an earlier observation that the planet also shows traces of water molecules. Tinetti from University College, London, told BBC News: "This planet is a gas giant very similar to our own Jupiter, but orbiting very close to its star." Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif said in a press conference on Wednesday, “The big news is that we were able to do this at all.”

The methane signature was found by using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the planet passing in front the star. As the star's light passes through the planet's atmosphere, the gases imprinted their chemical signatures on the transmitted light (see video from ESA and NASA).

Although the results are considered a breakthrough, as Sara Seager, a planetary theorist at M.I.T., said at the press conference, the findings still needed to be duplicated. “Hubble was never been designed to make measurements like this,” she said. “This is pushing the telescope to its limits.”

Related Links
The presence of methane in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet (Nature)
Mark R. Swain
Gautam Vasisht
Giovanna Tinetti
Google Sky image of HD 189733b
Hubble finds first organic molecule on extrasolar planet
Methane found on distant world (BBC)
Methane gas find raises hopes of life beyond Earth (The Independent)
Stuff of Life (but Not Life Itself) Is Detected on a Distant Planet (New York Times)
Key Organic Molecule Detected at Extrasolar Planet (space.com)
Hubble camera spots traces of life-forming gas (LA Times)