Researchers at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have discovered a solar system similar to our own leaving scientists confident many more planetary systems like ours await to be found.
Astronomers have found a planetary system similar in characteristics to our own. Photo: Artists impression of solar system. Credit: NASA
Astronomers have located around 300 extrasolar planets though had yet to identify one with similar properties as our own. However Dr Martin Dominik's discovery, which shows a planetary system orbiting around a sun approximately five thousand light years away, has many similarities including two large planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn.
Speaking to BBC News, Dr Dominik 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."
He went on to say the planetary system is more compact than our own describing it as a "...kind of scaled-down version of our Solar System."
"The star the planets are orbiting is half as massive as the Sun and they orbit half as distant to their host star as Jupiter and Saturn orbit around the Sun," said Dr Dominik.
Dr Dominik, recently told a major meeting of astronomers in Belfast that it was just a matter of time before more are discovered.
He aim of the search for similar planetary systems is to try and identify similar habitable planets where life could have evolved, he said. "I think it will happen quite soon," he said, "...in the next few years, we will see something really exciting."
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