Much study was put into Proxima Centauri because Red Dwarf stars have processes that can mimic the presence of a planet. This year, the team checked every day during the 60 nights of their scans of Proxima Centauri.
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Proxima b is far from the first exoplanet to be discovered.
Scientists have discovered a planet relatively close to Earth that could be habitable.
Recent observations confirmed that this planet not only exists, but inhabits a zone where its surface temperature could allow liquid water, a key ingredient for life on Earth.
“Many exoplanets have been found and many more will be found, but searching for the closest potential Earth-analogue and succeeding has been the experience of a lifetime for all of us”, said Anglada-Escude.
The worldwide team of astronomers that announced the discovery haven’t seen Proxima b but confirmed its existence indirectly using telescopes to identify and precisely calculate the gravitational pull it had on its star, a proven method in exoplanet-hunting. However, Proxima b’s sun is very different than our own.
“This planet is at 5% of the Earth’s distance from the Sun”. It takes about 11 Earth-days for Proxima-b to complete one orbit around its star, but takes 83 Earth-days to make one full planetary rotation. Assuming this exoplanet has an atmosphere, researchers estimate its average surface temperature to be somewhere between 86 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dreams of intergalactic travel lit up the internet on Wednesday following the dramatic discovery by a team of astronomers who announced that Earth may have a twin. “This is the nearest other planet outside our solar system that we’re ever going to find”.
“It is not unlikely that this planet is quite similar to Earth”. The majority of the sun’s closest stellar neighbors are red dwarfs.
Forget rocketing like Han, Chewy or Captain Kirk to the outer depths of the universe in search of friendly life forms.
ESO’s discovery does not automatically mean that we could prove the existence of alien life. Researchers say it is unlikely that Proxima b formed in its current location.
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Astronomers have not yet directly seen images of the planet. But the discovery made by a group of 31 scientists at the Queen Mary University of London is a significant one.
