A planetary system has been discovered orbiting around the star Tau Ceti, which lies just 12 light years from Earth and is the nearest single sun like star to our solar system. The news comes just two months after the discovery of a planet in the nearest star system to Earth, Alpha Centauri.

A total of five planets have been detected orbiting Tau Ceti, one of the planets orbits in the habitable zone around the star, an area where the temperature would allow for the presence of liquid water on a planet’s surface. The planet which has been named HD 10700e is thought to have a mass of around 4.5 to 6 times that of Earth but researchers think it is unlikely that it is a rocky world like Earth.

All of the planets detected seem to be of a relatively low mass, ranging from 2 to 6 masses of Earth. Tau Ceti is also surrounded by a large debris disk suggesting that any orbiting planets could be subjected to regular impacts from asteroids, similar to the situation in the early solar system.

At the moment the discoveries are unconfirmed but if they do exist Tau Ceti would be a prime candidate for further research in the future. The star’s brightness and close proximity to Earth would allow instruments to reveal the composition and density of their atmospheres.

The planets were detected by a team at Hertfordshire University in the UK using three detection instruments from around the world. The instruments detect the slight 'wobble' of a star due to gravitational interactions with orbiting bodies. The research is further indication that planetary systems are extremely common on our galaxy and it seems only a matter of time before a planet similar to our own is discovered.

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