October 27, 2008--NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered two asteroid belts in the planetary system closest to the solar system.

The find (seen in an artist's depiction) suggests that numerous planets may orbit the star Epsilon Eridani.

The rings of asteroids contain rocky, raw materials leftover from the formation of planets.

Though our solar system has only one ring, Epsilon Eridani's younger planetary system probably looks much like our own did at the time when life first arose on Earth.

--Brian Handwerk