It's amazing when you consider that this is a <i>direct image</i> (the first image in the article) of planets almost 200 light years away, taken from telescopes on the <i>surface of the Earth</i> -- something that would have made me jump up and down with excitement twenty years ago. It is now almost routine.<p>Also note that these planets are gas giants about 20AU away from the parent star. It's entirely possible that there are rocky planets closer to the star that might be getting occluded along with the star's light. Those may have water too.
It seems to be 129 light years away, not 179.<p>astrobiology.nasa.gov, the Open Exoplanet Catalogue, space.com, britannica.com all say it's (about) 129 light years away. Wikipedia says 129±4.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_8799" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_8799</a><p><a href="http://www.openexoplanetcatalogue.com/planet/HR%208799%20e/" rel="nofollow">http://www.openexoplanetcatalogue.com/planet/HR%208799%20e/</a><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/HR-8799" rel="nofollow">https://www.britannica.com/place/HR-8799</a><p><a href="https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/a-four-planet-system-in-orbit-directly-imaged-and-remarkable/" rel="nofollow">https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/a-four-planet-system-in-o...</a>