Hubble Detects Organic Molecule on an Extrasolar Planet

The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the first organic molecule on a planet that's not in our solar system. According to NASA, this breakthrough could be a major step toward discovering life on other planets. Scientists believe that the organic compound detected, methane, can be an integral part in the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it

(from News.com). Methane is the simplest organic molecule known, and finding it on a planet other than Earth, and outside our solar system, is likely a step closer to being able to find life on a planet very far away, if there is any.