The discovery of a fifth planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system has prompted scientists to suggest there may be many solar systems, just like our own, packed with planets.
Four of the five planets that orbit 55 Cancri, a star much like our own. The most recently discovered planet, and the fourth out from the star, looms large in the foreground. The system's three known inner planets can be seen in the background around the glowing star, while its most distant planet is not pictured
the discovery is the first time as many as five planets have been found orbiting a solar system outside our own, says Assistant Professor Debra Fischer, an astronomer at
San Francisco State University
Life could conceivably live on the surface of a moon that might be orbiting the new planet. But such a moon would be far too small to detect using current methods
about the same mass and is about the same age as our sun,"
"It's a system that appears to be packed with planets."
clipped from: www.abc.net.au 