Australian astronomers have identified a super-Earth and two mini-Neptunes orbiting a star just down the road from us in galactic terms, with the possibility that the system may contain even more planets.

The three planets identified included two gaseous planets with a hydrogen atmosphere, like Neptune’s, both about twice the size of Earth.

There is also a rocky planet about 25 per cent larger than Earth, however the surface of the planet is far too hot to support life, as it is very close to its star and has a “year” of just more than three days.

Illustration of NASA's TESS observing a dwarf star with orbiting planets similar to that observed by astronomers. Credit:NASA

Associate Professor Michael Ireland from the Australian National University said while they had detected three planets, it was likely there were more planets in the system.