HUGE NEWS: Astronomers Discover an Earth-Sized Planet Orbiting Proxima Centauri

Astronomers discover an Earth-sized planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, making it the closest exoplanet to our solar system! Just over four light-years from the Solar System lies a red dwarf star that has been named Proxima Centauri as it is the closest star to Earth apart from the Sun.

This cool star in the constellation of Centaurus is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye and lies near to the much brighter pair of stars known as Alpha Centauri AB.

Astronomers using ESO telescopes and other facilities have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri. 

The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. This rocky world is a little more massive than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us — and it may also be the closest possible abode for life outside the Solar System. 

Although Proxima b orbits much closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun in the Solar System, the star itself is far fainter than the Sun. As a result Proxima b lies well within the habitable zone around the star and has an estimated surface temperature that would allow the presence of liquid water. 

Source:

ESO (EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY)
http://tinyurl.com/zwl6wka

A paper describing this milestone finding was published in the journal Nature on 25 August 2016.
http://tinyurl.com/jx2fgym

Clips, images credit: ESO

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