A New Planet Spotted Orbiting Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our own Sun, and in 2016, scientists were able to make out a planet orbiting it. Since then, a second planet was detected and now a third. e planets have been christened Proxima Centauri b, c, and d. Based on these ndings, it’s believed Proxima Centauri may host a full planetary system not so dierent than our own.
e newest planet, Proxima Centauri d, was detected by an international team led by João Faria (University of Porto, Portugal), that described it in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. It is believed to be smaller than Earth with perhaps twice the mass of Mars. It is currently called a “planet candidate” until it can be independently conrmed by other astronomers, but Faria and his team are extremely condent about their nding.
Proxima d is too close to its star to host life. But its companion, Proxima b, does have a mass more like Earth, it lies within the so-called habitable zone and it may even sport oceans of water.