New Hubble view of the Lagoon Nebula

For the first time, astronomers have detected the signature of water vapour in the atmosphere of an exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of its host star.

Due for launch in 2020, ESA’s Euclid satellite will set astronomers a huge challenge: to analyse 100,000 strong gravitational lenses. The gravitational deflection of light from distant astronomical sources by interposing massive galaxies can create multiple images of the source that are not just visually stunning, but are also valuable tools for probing our universe.

The three lowest-density exoplanets yet discovered may be steps on the planetary evolution ladder, shrinking to resemble more commonplace worlds over time.