After scanning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like planets where life might exist, astronomers have found one right next door.
A planet that is rocky like Earth and only slightly bigger has been discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri , the nearest star to our solar system, scientists reported Wednesday. It is probably in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold 'Goldilocks Zone' where liquid water — a key to life — is possible if the planet has an atmosphere. And it is a mere 4.22 light-years from Earth, or 25 trillion miles.
It is easily the closest potentially habitable planet ever detected outside our solar system - and one that could be reachable by tiny, uncrewed space probes before the end of the century, in time for some people alive today to witness it.
The international team of astronomers that announced the discovery did not actually see the planet but ascertained its existence indirectly, by using telescopes to spot and precisely calculate the gravitational pull on the star by a possible orbiting body - a tried-and-true method of planet-hunting. Full story...
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A planet that is rocky like Earth and only slightly bigger has been discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri , the nearest star to our solar system, scientists reported Wednesday. It is probably in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold 'Goldilocks Zone' where liquid water — a key to life — is possible if the planet has an atmosphere. And it is a mere 4.22 light-years from Earth, or 25 trillion miles.
It is easily the closest potentially habitable planet ever detected outside our solar system - and one that could be reachable by tiny, uncrewed space probes before the end of the century, in time for some people alive today to witness it.
The international team of astronomers that announced the discovery did not actually see the planet but ascertained its existence indirectly, by using telescopes to spot and precisely calculate the gravitational pull on the star by a possible orbiting body - a tried-and-true method of planet-hunting. Full story...
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