Polish Astronomers Discover a Sister Solar System

An international team of scientists led by astronomers based in Warsaw and working within OGLE project has announced a discovery of an extrasolar planetary system, which – after rescaling – resembles our own Solar System. An article on the discovery will appear in tomorrow’s issue of Science magazine.

The system, designated OGLE-2006-BLG-109, is situated 4,500 light years away from Earth. It is composed of two massive planets which resemble Jupiter and Saturn, and which revolve around a star similar to our own Sun.

The planets were discovered with the use of gravitational microlensing method. Gravitational microlensing happens when a mass-endowed celestial body (for example a planet or a black hole) transits close to the line-of-sight between a star and the Earth (observer), resulting in a noticeable brightening of the light from the star.

Read more in the original article

Wow this is pretty cool… Like they say in the movie Contact: “If it’s just us in the universe, it’s an awfull waste of space!!”

Found by: Konrad