Global Times

Earth- like planet raises hopes for life outside system

- By Zhou Jiaxin

Scientists announced Wednesday the discovery of an Earthlike planet, the closest possible home for life outside the solar system.

Queen Mary University of London’s Guillem Anglada- Escudé, the project leader and coauthor of the study published in the journal Nature, said the discovery raises the possibilit­y of life on the rocky planet orbiting the nearest star to our sun– Proxima Centauri, the Guardian reported.

Proxima b, at least 1.3 times the Earth’s mass, orbits its host star every 11 days and has a temperatur­e suitable for liquid water on its surface, according to the university’s official website.

“Proxima b would probably be the first exoplanet visited by a probe made by humans,” coauthor Julien Morin, an astrophysi­cist at France’s University of Montpellie­r, told AFP.

The planet orbiting Proxima Centauri is likely to be the focus of future interstell­ar voyages, Nature said on Wednesday.

“Chinese scientists have paid close attention to the study since European scientists decided to reveal the findings half a year ago,” said Guo Jingjun, the director of Tsinghua University’s Geographic Informatio­n System, Remote Sensing, and Global Positionin­g System research center.

However, Guo told the Global Times that the findings are based on some hypothesis that requires further testing, and Chinese astronomer­s are committed to making such contributi­ons.

Last year, the US space agency NASA discovered an exoplanet that it described as Earth’s “closest- twin.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from China