The Hubble space telescope have been used to probe the atmosphere of the planet GJ 1214b.
GJ 1214b is relatively easy to study, at a distance of only 40 lightyears, and it transits the star every 38 hours.
The result is surprising in that they did not find any trace of any of the expected atmospheric gases.
Instead the scientist are now pondering the hypothesis that the planet is wrapped in clouds of potash or zinc compounds.
More on this at a page hosted by http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/12/31/uchicago-researchers-use-hubble-telescope-reveal-cloudy-weather-alien-world
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