Astronomers have discovered two earth sized planets orbiting a distant sun through a telescope, for the first time ever.

The find is significant because of the size of the planets, which is very similar to the earth. The planets orbit closer to their star than the planet Mercury’s orbit to the sun. Astronomers believe that the planets are too hot to sustain life and may lack water.

It is noted that because the similar size of the planets to the Earth, they have relatively low gravity and a solid, rocky composition, characteristics that are essential to sustain life.

The planets have been discovered by NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration's) Kepler telescope. The star revolves a star called Kepler-20 and the solar system is about 1,000 light years away from the Earth.

The first named Kepler 20e, is about four-fifths the size of Earth and the second, named Kepler 20f is almost of the same size as the Earth. Enough data is not available to determine the mass or composition of the planets.

François Fressin at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts said, "These planets are the closest to Earth in size in the known universe. This is the first time that humanity has been able to detect another Earth or Earth-sized object around another star."