Scientists discover new solar system

LIVERMORE, Calif., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Scientists at a U.S. laboratory said they have discovered a new solar system containing two planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn.

The Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California said the solar system, which is nearly 5,000 light years away, contains two scaled-down gas giant planets that are about half the distance from their source star as Jupiter and Saturn are from our sun. The two new planets are the same distance apart as Jupiter and Saturn are to each other, the laboratory said Thursday in a release.

"This is the first time something analogous to our solar system has been found," researcher Kem Cook said in a statement. "This indicates that our kind of planetary system is relatively common and that in and of itself is exciting."

The research is published in the journal Science.

The discovery relied on 11 different ground-based telescopes in countries including New Zealand, Tasmania, Israel, Chile, the Canary Islands and the United States, the report said.