Astrobiology Magazine - 2010 Feb 18
The search for water on other planetary bodies has taken a giant leap forward in recent months. In November, NASA announced that it had found substantial quantities of water on the Moon. Earlier this month, the Cassini spacecraft obtained data about one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, that may confirm the presence of sub-surface liquid water.
While these missions scour our solar system for traces of water – a necessary condition for life – a group of scientists is looking beyond, at solar systems light years away. A recent study published in the journal Astrobiology described using infrared spectroscopy to model the dust surrounding young extrasolar stars to try to detect the presence of hydrous minerals called phyllosilicates.