Astronomers find oldest planetary system, Kepler-444

Astronomers have spotted the oldest planetary system ever found, an ancient star and five Earth-like planets about 11.2 billion years old.

Until now, scientists weren’t certain that rocky planets could have formed so long ago, when the universe – estimated to be 13.8 billion years old – was five times younger than it is today. Now they know for sure that they did, according to a new study in the Astrophysical Journal.