Animation of the planetary system around Sun-like star HD 10180 (artist’s impression)

This animation shows an artist’s impression of the remarkable planetary system around the Sun-like star HD 10180. Observations with the HARPS spectrograph, attached to ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla, Chile, have revealed the definite presence of five planets and evidence for two more in orbit around this star. This system is similar to the Solar System in terms of number of planets and the presence of a regular pattern in the sizes of the orbits. If confirmed the closest planet detected would be the lightest yet known outside the Solar System, with a mass that could be as small as only 1.4 times that of the Earth.

Here we see the planets orbiting their star. The size of the orbits increases in a clear pattern as we move away from the star. A similar pattern is seen in our own Solar System. The correct relative orbital speeds of the planets are shown, but greatly speeded up.