Earth twin find in far-off solar system

A ROCKY planet virtually identical in size to the Earth has been discovered orbiting a distant Sun-like star.

It is the first time such an Earth twin in another solar system has been detected.

Although the planet, Kepler-20f could have a thick water-vapour atmosphere, its surface is believed to be too hot for life.

A second planet in the same system, Kepler-20e, is only slightly smaller than Earth and even hotter.

Neither lie within the “habitable zone” where temperatures are just warm enough to allow liquid surface water, increasing the prospects for life.

Dr Francois Fressin, one of the astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, said: “It is the first time humanity has been able to discover an object similar to the Earth around a star. I think ten years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when was the first Earth-sized planet found. It is very exciting.”