Thaindian News

August 25, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Astronomers have reported the discovery of an alien solar system replete with seven planets circling a star. The solar system has been detected to be almost 127 light years away from the earth.

The researchers further reveal that all the seven planets have been found to circle the HD 10180, the name by which the solar system and its star is being called. The orbits of the planets are said to be regular as well. However, the astronomers have figured out that the arrangement of the planets around the star is much more compact than that of our own solar system. This discovery has become particularly significant as it marks the finding of the highest number of planets circling a star till date. It is also one of the three different planetary system known to have more than three planets.

Another interesting aspect is that one of the planets could have a mass roughly equal to that of earth said the astronomers. However, this is yet to be confirmed.

The star has been found in the constellation of Hydra and could be detected with the aid of a huge telescope at the European Southern Observatory located in Chile. The observation took almost six years with the system finally being tracked with the help of HARPS which is a particularly sensitive planet hunter.

The astronomer Christophe Lovis stated that we are finally at the threshold of a new era as far as exoplanetary research is concerned. The studies that are undertaken now focus more on the planetary systems instead of a solitary planet. There has been no signs of life in any of the planets so far. But it is too early to say that, Lovis added. The entire system is also too distant to send a Mars like probe for retrieving important data from it, he concluded in his statement.

The results of the study was announced on Tuesday at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, France where the International colloquium on the extra solar planets took place.