A research team carried out a study on three distant planets. Detailed measurements were taken of the atmospheres of the gas giants orbiting stars akin to the sun.

The assessment was done using the Hubble Space Telescope. It was earlier considered that lot of water would be found on the planets, but researchers were shocked to find little water on the three planets. The recent discovery hints probable hurdles in the search of earth-like planets that are rich in water and could support life.

These planets are present between 60 and 900 light years from earth. Temperature on these planets has been estimated between 900 and 2,200 degrees Celsius. These conditions led researchers believe that these planets were suitable for detecting water vapor.

When research was conducted, these planets `have come up nearly dry'. Researcher Nikku Madhusudhan of Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy said they were astonished to know about the low water abundance.

"These results show just how challenging it could be to detect water on Earth-like exoplanets in our search for potential life elsewhere", said lead researcher of the study, Madhusudhan.

The planets on which research was carried out were HD 209458b, HD 189733b and WASP-12b. Researchers were of the view that from now on, they have learnt a lesson that if they will search for biosignatures on rocky exoplanets then they will be prepared to find planets that have quite less water.

Also, it would be required to design future telescopes with greater level of sensitivity, so that they are better positioned to reveal about the signs of water. Madhusudhan also stated that low level of water has also raised questions about the planet formation.