The Kepler telescope has discovered some interesting things recently. There is a star which has two Saturn sized objects circling it as well as possibly a third. It seems that this third planet may be about the same size as the Earth. This is very exciting information but follow up studies will need to be carried out in order to make sure that these findings are correct. However, it is so far producing some excitement in the astronomy world.
The telescope has the largest camera in space attached to it and it searches for planets by looking at the light coming from stars. If the light changes then it is assumed that it might be because a planet is passing in front of it and this is how these have been found. The data from the telescope has been analysed for seven months before drawing this conclusion which needs to be backed up by further evidence before being definitive. However, at the moment there seems to be no other explanation for the gathered information with regards to the light patterns.
It has been reported that other similar systems have been discovered, but none with more than one planet circling a star, which is why this is so interesting. It is fairly common for planets to remain in the orbit of stars and it is a safe place to be because they tend not to be ejected or get too close to the stars and burn up. However, for two or maybe three planets to all be in this close proximity is very rare apart for our own solar system of course.
Some scientists feel that this interesting finding could lead to a search for more Earth like planets as it provides evidence that there are similar planets to the others in our solar system and possibly ones very similar to Earth.