Our solar system was home to a second earth which suffered a very grim fate

Flame-grilled: This is what would happen if the Sun decided to eat the Earth {Photo Courtesy}

Astronomers have claimed that Planet Earth once boasted a larger twin which ended up being "eaten" by the Sun.
This incredible "super-Earth" have have orbited between our parent star and Mercury, before plunging into the Sun and meeting a fiery death.
The area of space which separates Mercury and the Sun is now barren, giving scientists a strong clue about what might have once lurked there.
"The only evidence that super-Earths could have formed in our solar system is the lack of anything in that region, not even a rock," said Rebecca Martin, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada..
"So they could have formed there sweeping up all of the solid material, but then later fell into the sun."
If it existed, the second Earth is likely to have formed by gradually gathering all the material and gas orbiting the sun to slowly form a planet.
However, this super-heated world is unlikely to have supported life due to its proximity to the Sun.