A potentially habitable planet from a clone of the solar system weighs as much as half Venus

A team of astronomers used ESO's VLT telescope in Chile to find out which planets orbit the star in the

Its appearance reminded scientists of the structure of the Solar System.

The newly studied planetary system L 98-59interesting to astronomers as it orbits a star only 35 light years from Earth. There are also rocky planets in the system that are close enough to the star to be warm.

Astronomers have discovered that a planet with half the mass of Venus, called L 98-59b, orbits L 98-59 and is also the lightest exoplanet ever measured using the radial velocity method.The method helps to calculate the oscillations of the star, which occur due to the gravitational attraction from theorbiting planets.

Also on L 98-59b there may be water and life. 

The planet is in the habitable zone and may have an atmosphere that protectsand sustains life. 

Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio, an astronomer at the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid

Thanks to ESO's VLT telescope, the team was able tofind out that three planets in the L 98-59 system may have water. The two planets closest to the star are likely dry, but may contain small amounts of water, but the third planet from the star, L 98-59b, may consist of 30% water.

The findings will aid in the search for life on Earth-sized planets and beyond the solar system.

Read more:

The slowing down of the Earth's rotation caused the release of oxygen on the planet

See how a black hole begins to destroy a star

New particle discovered at the Large Hadron Collider