Weekly Science & Technology Report

CW Leonis, a star some 500 light-years from Earth, has become a recent hot topic for scientists, who have long known it to be surrounded by a shroud of water. The star, twice as massive as our Sun, has been looked on by Europe?s Herschel space telescope as an old giant star wallowing in a ?steam bath?. Herschel?s superb ability to track the water molecules in space means it can show that the water lies close in to the star and reaches nearly 1300 degrees F. ?Herschel really is the most amazing water detector,? lead researchers Dr Leen Decin from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, told BBC News.The gigantic cloud of water surrounding CW Leonis was first detected in 2001 by the Sub-millimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS). Scientists first believed the water originated from comets, or even planets, that had been annihilated by the giant star. The idea that water could have been produced around the star itself didn?t seem plausible because CW Leonis had reached a stage in its life when its nuclear core w