Our sun has a twin! Rare star close to three super hot planets is discovered 2,500 light years away

• One of the planets orbits a star similar to our sun once every 6.9 days
• This is the first solar twin in a cluster that has been found to have a planet
• Scientists now believe that planets in open star clusters are as common as they are around isolated stars - but they are not easy to detect
• This may have implications for finding an Earth 2.0 with a sun like our own

Over a thousand exoplanets have so far been found, and the discoveries are coming thick and fast.

But the recent find of three super-hot worlds in a stellar city 2,500 light years away has got astronomers particularly excited.

One of the new exoplanets is orbiting a star that is a rare solar twin - a star that is almost identical to our sun in all respects.

Astronomers have used ESO's HARPS planet hunter in Chile, along with other telescopes around the world, to discover three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Pictured here is an artist's impression of what one of the planet's with a sun like our own might look like

This is the first solar twin in a cluster that has been found to have a planet, and scientists claim there could be many more.

Astronomers know that most stars form out of giant gas clouds in clusters. But up until now, they haven’t found many planets orbiting stars in clusters. 

(Culled from dailymail)