Researchers at the University of Texas have said that it is likely that our sun has got a sibling as they have found a star which according to researchers was born from the same cloud of gas as our sun.
Researchers said that the discovery of this star can help them understand into how life on earth started. Astronomer Ivan Ramirez, based at the University of Texas, deserves credit for this study. He said that the newly-discovered star is 110 light years away from Earth.
"We want to know where we were born," Ramirez said in a statement announcing his discovery. "If we can figure out in what part of the galaxy the sun formed, we can constrain conditions on the early solar system. That could help us understand why we are here."
Ramirez named the sun?s apparent sibling HD 162826 and its size is 15 percent more than the sun. This star can be found in the constellation Hercules and one can see it using binoculars as this star is not far from the bright star Vega.
A total of 30 stars that were believed to be potential solar siblings were studied by Ramirez and his team and the team analyzed the orbit and chemical make-up of each star and it! helped them narrow down the list. The information about the stars' orbits were also included by the researchers.
The researchers will now try to find if the star has any planets in its orbit which could support life forms. There is a chance, "small, but not zero," Ramirez said, adding that it is likely that these solar sibling stars could host planets that can sustain life.
"So it could be argued that solar siblings are key candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life," Ramirez said.
Ramirez's findings will be published in the June 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Source : http://www.delhidailynews.com/news/Distant-Suns-sibling-found-1399828412/
