A nearby star has been found with two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring or halo. It is a three-ring circus. The inner asteroid belt looks like a virtual twin to the belt in our solar system. Astronomers say that the presence of the rings around the star, known as Epsilon Eridani, suggests hidden planets lurking there. They say the planets confine and shape the rings. The star is part of the constellation Eridanus and it is 10.5 light-years from Earth. The star is the ninth closest star to the sun. Epsilon Eridani is slightly smaller and colder than our sun. Not only that, the star is younger. The sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old while Epsilon Eridani has been living for about 850 million years. Astronomers believe that the rings formed when the solar system was very, very young. They say it was likely collisions between planets and small bodies resulted in the chunks of rock that resulted in the 3 rings. They also believe that the gaps were formed by planets with gravitational forces which could remove the excess material that was floating away from the belts and keep the shape of the rings. Astronomers say that planets in our solar system exert similar shaping effects.
I think that this was a very big discovery. Since this star is younger than sun and is similar to it we can observe what happens to it when it ages. I believe that we won't forget this star for a long time. Scientists will observe this star for a long time.
Here is where I got the article http://www.livescience.com/space/081027-mm-solar-system-twin.html
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