NASAs Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the strongest evidence to date for a

stratosphere on a planet outside solar system, WASP-121b. The stratosphere is an

atmosphere layer in which temperature raises with higher altitudes.
An International team of researchers discovered this led by the University of Exeter to
observe glowing water molecules in WASP-121b's atmosphere. Mark Marley who is the
co-author of the study described the result as exciting, as the discovery showed that a
common trait of most
of the atmospheres in our solar system, that is a warm stratosphere, can also be found in
the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Speaking on the occasion Marley stated that they could now compare processes in
exoplanet atmospheres with the same processes that happen under different set of
conditions in our own solar system. The scientists used spectroscopy, in order to study
the exoplanets stratosphere and to analyse how the planet's brightness changed at
different wavelengths of light.
Important Highlights
In the planet's atmosphere water vapor behaves in predictable ways in response to
different wavelengths of light, depending on the water temperature.
At lower temperatures, water vapor in the planet's upper atmosphere blocks light of
particular wavelengths radiating from deeper down layers towards space.
The water molecules in the upper atmosphere glow at the wavelengths, instead of
blocking them at higher temperatures.