Astronomers have discovered a strange planetary system that is making scientists rethink how planets form. In this system, a rocky planet is located beyond two gas planets, something that current theories say should not normally happen, reported Reuters.

The discovery was made using the European Space Agency's Cheops space telescope. This system consists of four planets, two rocky and two gaseous,all orbiting a small, dimly luminous red dwarf star. This star is located approximately 117 light-years from Earth, in the direction of the Lynx constellation.

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, which is approximately 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers).This star is called LHS 1903. It has about half the mass of our Sun and is only 5 percent as luminous.

The arrangement of the planets surprised scientists. The planet closest to the star is rocky. The two next to it are gaseous. But the outermost, fourth planet is rocky again, despite current theories suggesting it should be gaseous.

Source:Ndtv