Earth-like planet found orbiting star nearest our own sun. And it may have water, and therefore life
- 8 years ago
LONDON — Scientists have discovered a planet orbiting the star closest to our own sun. If that’s not remarkable enough, the planet lies in the star’s so-called Goldilocks zone, meaning it’s possible the planet’s surface supports liquid water, and perhaps even life.
The exoplanet, named Proxima b, is believed to have a rocky surface and its minimum mass is 1.3 times that of the Earth. It is 4.2 light years, or 25 trillion miles away from our own planet, very close in cosmic terms.
“We know there are terrestrial planets around many stars, and we kind of expected the nearby stars would contain terrestrial planets. This is not exciting because of this. The excitement is because it is the nearest one,” the New York Times quoted Guillem Anglada-Escudé, an astronomer at Queen Mary University of London and the leader of the team that made the discovery as saying.
It orbits the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri within its habitable zone, at a distance less than 5 percent the distance between the sun and mercury. A full orbit --meaning a planetary year-- takes about 11 days.
The planet is tidally locked, meaning one half of the planet is always bright and the other is always dark. The temperature of the planet’s surface could be around minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If it has an atmosphere, the temperature could reach as high as 86 degrees Fahrenheit on its light side, meaning it could be warm enough to hold liquid water, the Washington Post reported.
The exoplanet, named Proxima b, is believed to have a rocky surface and its minimum mass is 1.3 times that of the Earth. It is 4.2 light years, or 25 trillion miles away from our own planet, very close in cosmic terms.
“We know there are terrestrial planets around many stars, and we kind of expected the nearby stars would contain terrestrial planets. This is not exciting because of this. The excitement is because it is the nearest one,” the New York Times quoted Guillem Anglada-Escudé, an astronomer at Queen Mary University of London and the leader of the team that made the discovery as saying.
It orbits the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri within its habitable zone, at a distance less than 5 percent the distance between the sun and mercury. A full orbit --meaning a planetary year-- takes about 11 days.
The planet is tidally locked, meaning one half of the planet is always bright and the other is always dark. The temperature of the planet’s surface could be around minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If it has an atmosphere, the temperature could reach as high as 86 degrees Fahrenheit on its light side, meaning it could be warm enough to hold liquid water, the Washington Post reported.