Water Found in Exoplanet's Atmosphere

anthemaniac writes "Astronomers have long suspected that water should exist in the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Now they have evidence. Water has been discovered in a planet called HD209458b, which was previously found to have oxygen. From the article: 'The discovery ... means one of the most crucial elements for life as we know it can exist around planets orbiting other stars.' But don't go looking for little green men. You might remember HD209458b as a 'hot Jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star."

Do your research...

[otacon]

I live on HD209458b you insensitive clod.

Criteria for Life

[SuperKendall]

But don't go looking for little green men. You might remember HD209458b as a 'hot Jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star."

Where there is hot water, there are saunas. Where there are saunas, there are tourists. Thus this remote planet has life, and most likley drinks with little umbrellas (or "snotzwathctls" as the local dialect probably refers to them).

Of course!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why, just the other day I said "Hey, remember HD209458b"? and everyone was like "Oh yeah, that's the 'Hot Jupiter', right?"

No little green men?

[DaveV1.0]

How about large, flying whales?

Aaaaaahhhhhh......

[ricky-road-flats]

You might remember HD209458b as a 'hot Jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star.

Oh, *that* HB209458b...

Re:Of course!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why, just the other day I said "Hey, remember HD209458b"? and everyone was like "Oh yeah, that's the 'Hot Jupiter', right?"

At least it wasn't 'Great Personality Jupiter.'

"Hi, I'm Troy McClure..."

[sczimme]

"You might remember me from such planets as HD209458b, the 'hot Jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star, and from Earth, the deadliest planet of them all."

Re:Aaaaaahhhhhh......

[otacon]

I was getting it confused with HD209458a for the longest time.

Re:Aaaaaahhhhhh......

[Mipoti Gusundar]

I am coming to America on a HB209458b.

HOT JUPITERS !!! its back

[unity100]

someone after the 'hot jupiters' article in in slashdot had had said that his/her favorite exclamation was going to be "HOT JUPITERS !!!!" . i wonder what s/he is doing now.

ah hey. theres a new meme for you.

Lots of heat and pressure...

[insanemime]

But don't go looking for little green men.

Just tell the US government there's oil up there and see how well funded NASA becomes.

Re:Straw poll:

[CogDissident]

Besides, whats the use of finding a space buffalo if we can't kill it, eat it's flesh, wear it's skin, and turn the land it used to live on into farmland?

Re:Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

These 'Obligatory...' posts are common enough now to be shortened into Internet Acronyms (IAs). For example, you might have written:

Subject: Ob.
Body: IFOWON HD209458 overlords.

This IA has the added benefit of sounding a bit like the phrase it's replacing.

Likewise, slashdot humor can get the IA treatment:

In Soviet Russia = ISR
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of = IABCO
But does it run Linux? = BDIRL?

and so on. Doing this would save precious bits, and would serve well as a in-joke for the Slashdot cognoscenti. Thus, I, Anonymous Coward, the most prolific poster on Slashdot, hereby recommend that IAs replace all standing Slashdot catch-phrases.

Re:Read this book: Rare Earth

[Anonymous Custard]

So we are very very unlikely to ever find any life that we can talk to.

Kind of like on slashdot.

Re:Perhaps

[Viper Daimao]

and if we're unfortunate it will be the Shadows and Goa'uld.

Re:Perhaps

[inviolet]

I dunno, if some of the worst of the current political trends continue, we'll end up being the Vorlons instead.

Vorlons? More like Vogons. You know, the fat [cdc.gov], bureaucratic [irs.gov] bullies [whitehouse.gov] who write horrible emo poetry [myspace.com] and eventually demolished the Earth in order to build a useless bypass [usnews.com].