Water may be variably distributed across Jupiter's atmosphere: NASA

Water makes up about 0.25 per cent of the molecules in Jupiter's atmosphere along its equator -- almost three times that of the Sun, according to a study based on data from NASA's Juno mission launched in 2011.

The study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Tuesday, provided the first findings on the gas giant's abundance of water since the space agency's 1995 Galileo mission.

According to the researchers, including those from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, Jupiter may be extremely dry compared to the Sun -- a comparison based not on liquid water, but on the presence of its components, oxygen and hydrogen.

They said Jupiter was likely the first planet to form, and it contains most of the gas and dust that wasn't incorporated into the Sun.

The leading theories about its formation rest on the amount of water the planet soaked up, the NASA scientists explained in a statement.

Water abundance also has important implications for the gas giant's meteorology and ...