Astronomers discover our 'twin' solar system

Last updated at 18:08 09 April 2008


Astronomers have discovered a distant "twin" solar system which looks very similar to our own.

So far researchers have identified two planets very similar to Jupiter and Saturn, which orbit a star about half the size of the Sun around 5,000 light-years away.

But they believe this could be just the start of an exciting time of discovery which will eventually lead to astronomers finding new planets which could support life.

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Martin Dominik, from St Andrews University, said: ""We found a system with two planets that take the roles of Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system.

"These two planets have a similar mass ratio and similar orbital radius and a similar orbital period.

"It looks like this may have formed in a similar way to our solar system. And if this is the case, it looks like our solar system cannot be unique in the Universe.

"There should be other similar systems out there which could host terrestrial planets."

Dr Dominik presented his new findings to the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast.

So far astronomers have found nearly 300 planets beyond our own solar system.

The new system orbits the star OGLE-2006-BLG-109L which is about 5,000 light-years away.

Researchers say it is unusual as it has more than one planet, a characteristic of only ten per cent of systems found to date.

But according to Dr Dominik, astronomers' investigations are currently hampered by limited techniques.

However, he claimed the technology was improving rapidly - and said that he expected habitable planets would be found in the next few years.

He added: "I think it will happen quite soon. In the next few years, we will see something really exciting."

According to Dr Dominik, it is unlikely his team will be able to detect planets similar to Earth in OGLE-2006-BLG-109L as it is too far away for current technology.

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