KEY POINTS:
Chemical elements observed around a burned-out star known as a white dwarf offer evidence Earth-like planets once orbited it, suggesting that worlds like our own may not be rare in the cosmos.
Astronomers studying a white dwarf called GD 362, 150 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy, figured out that the composition of a large asteroid that was ripped apart by gravitational forces as it approached GD 362 was similar to the Earth's crust.
It was rich in iron and calcium and low in carbon, much like a strong rock.
