'Mini-me' solar system that could reveal how Earth formed discovered by astronomers
A DISTANT solar system representing a 'mini-me' of our own cluster of planets has been discovered by astronomers.
The mini me solar system
At just 15million years old, the new planetary system - hidden by a ring of dust clouds - is very much like our own at that same age.
However, our solar system is now a much more mature 4.6billion years old.
Research has suggested the 'mini-me' version of our solar system is being sculpted by planets in the same way ours was billions of years ago.
Although scientists do not believe they have stumbled across a parallel universe or solar system that began billions of years after ours, they do think its existence means the way our solar system - and Earth - was created may not be unusual.
Dr Thayne Currie, an astronomer at the Subaru Observatory in Hawaii, and principal investigator, said: "It's almost like looking at the outer solar system when it was a toddler."
The dust cloud ring that surrounds the mini solar system is between 3.4 to 5.1billion miles from its star - about the same distance as our system's Kuiper asteroid belt from our Sun.
Graphic showing it surrounded by dust cloud ring
Graphic of our asteroid belt
More images of the mini system
Our discovery of a near-twin of the Kuiper Belt provides direct evidence that the planetary birth environment of the solar system may not be uncommon.
This is an area filled with comets, asteroids and meteorites beyond Pluto that are believed to be remnants of the formation of our solar system.
Co-author Dr Nikku Madhusudhan, of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, added: "To be able to directly image planetary birth environments around other stars at orbital distances comparable to the solar system is a major advancement.
"Our discovery of a near-twin of the Kuiper Belt provides direct evidence that the planetary birth environment of the solar system may not be uncommon."
Scientists traced the distant solar system through the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) at the Gemini South telescope in Chile.
The new young star called HD 115600, is slightly bigger than our Sun, but is 360 light-years away in the Centaurus constellation.