NASA Finds New Planet in Far off Solar System as Large as Ours

The Kepler-90 planets have a similar configuration to our solar system with small planets found orbiting close to their star, and the larger planets found farther away. In our solar system, this pattern is often seen as evidence that the outer planets formed in a cooler part of the solar system, where water ice can stay solid and clump together to make bigger and bigger planets. The pattern we see around Kepler-90 could be evidence of that same process happening in this system. NASA/Ames Research Center/Wendy Stenzel

NASA’s recent discovery of a new planet circling around a far-off Sun-like star has raised hopes of finding extra-terrestrial life outside our own solar system.

The space agency announced that they have discovered an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a star similar to our sun, 2,545 light years away from Earth. This discovery means our solar system is now tied for the most number of planets around a single star, according to a statement by NASA on Dec. 14.