The performances to explore space increased using sensitive instruments

It is supposed that in similar conditions some smaller planets might also have similarly good visibility.
HAT-P-11b is located 120 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan) and it’s a small planet that orbits another star making one lap roughly every five days. The scientists used a technique called transmission spectroscopy, in which a planet is observed as it crosses in front of its parent star. “By using transmission spectroscopy, we could use Hubble to detect water vapour in the planet. This told us that the planet didn’t have thick clouds blocking the view and is a very hopeful sign that we can find and analyse more cloudless, smaller, planets in the future” said Nikku Madhusudhan, from the University of Cambridge, UK, part of the study team.