New Solar System Found? Another Jupiter Spotted Orbiting Another Sun!

This month seems to be a good month for science.

After the Pluto fly by (where we learned so much in such a short time), astronomers found another wonder in the universe, and it looks like it's going to be Solar System 2.0.

The La Silla Observatory in Chile, which is part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), used a superpowerful telescope, called the HARPS. The HARPS is the superpowerful 3.6-meter telescope that used radial velocity method that can help accurately calculate a planet's mass orbital distance, and period.

A team of international astronomers were able to identify a planet with a "very similar mass to Jupiter" and orbiting a sun-like star, The star was named HIP 11915, according to CNet.

Earlier this year, a theory was released that Jupiter was a critical component in our solar system. The team of astronomers postulated that the giant planet may have acted as a wrecking ball, swinging toward the sun and helping form the inner, rocky planets from the debris that it left in its wake.

With the help of Saturn's gravity, Jupiter was able to swing back out, according to a report published by Space.com.

This means that another solar system with the same Jupiter-Sun setup is good news, and an ESO statement said that HIP 11915 "is one of the most promising candidates so far to host a planetary system similar to our own."

The more exciting part about this is that, according to Discovery News, Jupiter and the Sun's doppelgangers are in the same galaxy, but light years away from each other.

The Sun's doppelganger is more like a long-lost twin. Discovery noted that the HIP 11915 has the same mass and even the same age as the one in the center of our solar system.

Jorge Melendez, the leader of the study said, "The quest for an Earth 2.0, and for a complete Solar System 2.0, is one of the most exciting endeavors in astronomy."

Megan Bedell from the University of Chicago and lead author of the paper said, "After two decades of hunting for exoplanets, we are finally beginning to see long-period gas giant planets similar to those in our own solar system thanks to the long-term stability of planet hunting instruments like HARPS."

Bedell continued, "This discovery is, in every respect, an exciting sign that other solar systems may be out there waiting to be discovered."

It was also reported that, with the discovery of the promising Solar System 2.0, the HIP 11915 will be the focus of exoplanetary studies in the future.

Who knows, we might find another Earth, too.