Possible Earth-Like Planet Found in Habitable Zone Around Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, a small low-mass star, about 4.25 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Centaurus.It was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun. It is about one-seventh the diameter of that of the Sun. It has a mass about an eighth of the Sun's mass (M_☉), and its average density is about 40 times that of the Sun.

Proxima Centauri has been suggested as a possible first destination for interstellar travel. Proxima currently moves toward Earth at a rate of 22.4 km/s. Ηowever, after 26,700 years, when it will come as close as 3.11 light-years, it will begin to move farther away.

If non-nuclear, conventional propulsion technologies are used, a flight of a spacecraft to a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri would probably require thousands of years. For example, Voyager 1, which is now travelling 17.043 km/s (38,120 mph) relative to the Sun, would reach Proxima in 73,775 years, were the spacecraft traveling in the direction of that star. A slow-moving probe would have only several tens of thousands of years to catch Proxima Centauri near its closest approach, and could end up watching it recede into the distance.

Nuclear pulse propulsion might enable such interstellar travel with a trip timescale of a century, beginning within the next century, inspiring several studies such as Project Orion, Project Daedalus, and Project Longshot. Searches for companions orbiting Proxima Centauri have been unsuccessful so far, but a new report in the German magazine Der Spiegel suggested unnamed sources at the European Southern Observatory have found a possible earth sized planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri with confirmation coming on 24 August 2016 when ESO is to host a press conference surrounding the possible discovery.

Here is an article talking about the possible discovery to be announced tomorrow:

EARTH-LIKE PLANET AROUND PROXIMA CENTAURI DISCOVERED

The hunt for exoplanets has been heating up in recent years. Since it began its mission in 2009, over four thousand exoplanet candidates have been discovered by the Kepler mission, several hundred of which have been confirmed to be “Earth-like” (i.e. terrestrial). And of these, some 216 planets have been shown to be both terrestrial and located within their parent star’s habitable zone (aka. “Goldilocks zone”).

But in what may prove to be the most exciting find to date, the German weekly Der Spiegel announced recently that astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, just 4.25 light-years away. Yes, in what is an apparent trifecta, this newly-discovered exoplanet is Earth-like, orbits within its sun’s habitable zone, and is within our reach. But is this too good to be true?

For over a century, astronomers have known about Proxima Centauri and believed that it is likely to be part of a trinary star system (along with Alpha Centauri A and B). Located just 0.237 ± 0.011 light years from the binary pair, this low-mass red dwarf star is also 0.12 light years (~7590 AUs) closer to Earth, making it the closest star system to our own.

In the past, the Kepler mission has revealed several Earth-like exoplanets that were deemed to be likely habitable. And recently, an international team of researchers narrowed the number of potentially-habitable exoplanets in the Kepler catalog down to the 20 that are most likely to support life. However, in just about all cases, these planets are hundreds (if not thousands) of light years away from Earth.

Knowing that there is a habitable planet that a mission from Earth could reach within our own lifetimes is nothing short of amazing! But of course, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. Citing anonymous sources, the magazine stated:

“The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface — an important requirement for the emergence of life. Never before have scientists discovered a second Earth that is so close by.”

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