A number of researchers have presented evidence which points to what is now believed to be the closest habitable planet to Earth.
According to a study posted on Nature, the planet Proxima b is in orbit around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own sun.
CNN says Proxima b is 4.2 light years away, which means it is close enough for robotic exploration in the coming centuries, according to the scientists. "It's not only the closest terrestrial planet found, it's probably the closest planet outside our solar system that will ever be found because there is no star closer to the solar system than this one," said lead study author Guillem Anglada-Escudé.
Proxima b is a rocky planet, around 1.3 times the size of Earth, and it orbits its star in just 11.2 days thanks to it only being 5 percent of the distance between the Earth and the sun. The star itself is a red dwarf, around 12 percent of the mass of our sun, and an effective temperature of around 3,050.
According to a study posted on Nature, the planet Proxima b is in orbit around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own sun.
CNN says Proxima b is 4.2 light years away, which means it is close enough for robotic exploration in the coming centuries, according to the scientists. "It's not only the closest terrestrial planet found, it's probably the closest planet outside our solar system that will ever be found because there is no star closer to the solar system than this one," said lead study author Guillem Anglada-Escudé.
Proxima b is a rocky planet, around 1.3 times the size of Earth, and it orbits its star in just 11.2 days thanks to it only being 5 percent of the distance between the Earth and the sun. The star itself is a red dwarf, around 12 percent of the mass of our sun, and an effective temperature of around 3,050.