Confirming that a nearby planetary system is similar to our own
Research from 2017 showed that Epsilon Eridani, a star located 10.5 light-years from Earth, hosts a planetary system with an architecture similar to ours, though this star is considerably younger than the Sun. The system features a Jupiter-like planet (named Epsilon Eridani b) in orbit at a similar distance that separates Jupiter from our Sun. By comparing SOFIA and Spitzer data, astronomers confirmed the presence of an asteroid belt much like our own. What’s more, a theoretical model of the Epsilon Eridani system suggests the presence of at least two other planets, the analogues being Uranus and Neptune.
