Possible discovery of a new super-Earth orbiting Proxima Centauri

Astronomers have discovered another candidate exoplanet orbiting our neighbor Proxima Centauri. A paper announcing these results was just published in the journal Science Advances. If confirmed, it will be the second exoplanet discovered to be orbiting the star.

It was big news in 2016 when astronomers discovered a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri (PC), the nearest star to our sun. That planet, named Proxima b, is potentially habitable, and at the time, there was speculation that we could send a robotic explorer there in only a few decades. The discovery of a second planet, even though it's likely too far away from its star for liquid water, is intensifying interest in the PC system.

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Red dwarfs host more small planets than other types of stars. This is an artist’s impression of the TRAPPIST-1 system, showcasing all seven planets in various phases.

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The Breakthrough Starshot Initiative (BSI) thinks they can send a tiny spacecraft to Proxima Centauri.