A team of researchers have identified a star directly related to the Sun, one that was likely born from the same cloud of dust and gas.
Research was led by astronomer Ivan Ramirez of The University of Texas. It will help astronomers look for other solar siblings in the future.
"Stars that were born in different clusters have different compositions," said Ramirez, according to The Los Angeles Times. "If a star has the exact same chemical composition as our sun, which establishes that they were born in the same place."
Ramirez is the lead author of a paper about the discovery that will be published June 1 in the Astrophysical Journal.
Research could also lead to a better understanding of where and how our Sun formed, and how our Solar System specifically became hospitable for life according to The Los Angeles Times.
The sun is a star at the center of our solar system, and at 93 million miles away from Earth, it is the closest star to our planet.
"We want to know where we were born," Ramirez said according to . "If we can figure out in what part of the galaxy the Sun formed, we can constrain conditions on the early solar system. That could help us understand why we are here."
There is a "small" chance that these siblings could host planets that harbor life as well, according to Ramirez.
Collisions could have knocked pieces off of planets in the past within their birth cluster, and these fragments might have traveled between solar systems. They might have even been responsible for bringing primitive life to Earth, according to Ramirez.
"So it could be argued that solar siblings are key candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life," Ramirez said.
Of 30 possible candidates discovered by several groups around the world searching for stars in the Sun's family, 23 were studied by Ramirez and his colleagues in depth with the Harlan J. Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The other stars, which are visible only from the southern hemisphere, were studied with the Clay Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.
Researchers used high-resolution spectroscopy to get a "deep understanding" of the stars' chemical make-up, according to The Los Angeles Times.
His team was also able to find out information about the stars' orbits around the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
When considering both chemistry an orbits, Ramirez's team was able to narrow the candidates down to one: HD 162826.
The McDonald Observatory Planet Search team has been observing HD 162826 for more than 15 years, by "lucky coincidence" according to Ramirez.
"We know there are no hot Jupiter's around this star, but there could be small planets," he said.
This solar sibling, and possibly the discovery of future ones, may help researchers understand the origins of our solar system, according to The Los Angeles Times.
"If you track their orbits back in time and find where they intersect 4.5 billion years ago, we can finally see in what part of the galaxy our sun was born," Mr. Ramirez said. "We would like to know the environment of the solar system when it was forming, and if it has anything to do with the way things are today."
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