Two asteroid belts found in nearby system

PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- New observations using the U.S. space agency's Spitzer Space Telescope indicate the nearest planetary system to ours has two asteroid belts.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the star at the center of the nearby system, called Epsilon Eridani, is a younger, slightly cooler and fainter version of the sun. Previously, astronomers had uncovered evidence for two possible planets in the system, and for a broad, outer ring of icy comets similar to our own Kuiper Belt.

Spitzer astronomers now say the system also has dual asteroid belts, one at about the same position as the one in our solar system, with the other located between the first belt and the comet ring.

"This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth," said Dana Backman, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. "The main difference we know of so far is that it has an additional ring of leftover planet construction material."

Backman is lead author of a paper detailing the discovery to be published in the Jan. 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.