Studying data from the Kepler telescope, the team, led by the University of Birmingham, found a star orbited by five planets similar in size to Earth.
The system, 117 light-years away, is the oldest known
of its kind, formed 11.2 billion years ago.
Dr Tiago Campante said it could provide a clue to "the
existence of ancient life in the galaxy".
"By the time the Earth formed, the planets in this
system were already older than our planet is today," he
said.
"This discovery may now help to pinpoint the beginning
of what we might call the era of planet formation."
Researchers said the star, named Kepler-444, and its
planets were two and a half times older than earth and
dated back to the "dawn of the galaxy".
Planets ranging in size from Mercury to Venus orbit the
star within the equivalent of 10 of our days.
While the proximity of the planets to the star ruled out
the possibility of life, Dr Campante said the discovery
showed planets of an Earth-like size, capable of
supporting life, could exist around a similarly ancient
star. The Receipt
That's amazing and I have no doubt life is/was out there. Earth is still a newbie in the galaxy. We should stop sending signals for contact with civilizations 2x older than our planet itself.
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Not one creative bone in their body.