As reported in Space, the star in question is called KOI-500. It's 1,100 light years away and is about three-quarters the size of our own sun (though it has roughly the same mass). But what makes this star system particularly unique is that it hosts five planets that range in size from 1.3 to 2.6 times the size of Earth — and they all inhabit a tight area of space that is 150 times smaller in area than Earth's orbit.
And what's really cool about all of this is that the outer four planets follow a synchronized orbit that has never been seen before, what's being called a four-body resonance: Every 191 days these four planets return to an identical orientation.
The researchers, a team led by Darin Ragozzine, detailed their findings yesterday (Oct. 15) at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in Reno, Nevada.
Source: Space.