Scientists have discovered a new exoplanet orbiting in a solar system near ours called "Proxima b" that may be nearly as habitable as Earth. The closest star in which the planet is situated closed to is the dwarf star "Proxima Centauri," which is around 4.2 light years away.
Basing it on a document, CNN reports that scientists claim Proxima b to be a rocky planet, however, still in the "habitable zone" in a solar system. Habitable zones are areas where the planet (or planets) is positioned in just the right place to contain water, or even sustain life. Any planet on the habitable zone is not too near or not too far from the sun, meaning the water might be in liquid form. However, researchers are not absolutely sure if the planet has water.
Using the instruments from the European Southern Observatory in Chile, scientists have found Proxima b through detections of gravitational tugs of the dwarf star, according to The Guardian. The researchers have observed "wobbles" around the sun as the planet travels around it. They were able to determine through the "wobbles" on how long the planet takes to orbit the star, which is around 11.2 days at a distance of approximately 7.5 million km. It was also reported that the mass of the planet affects on how big the "wobble" is, which is 1.3 times the size of Earth.
It is still unknown if the newly discovered planet has an atmosphere. If that is the case, the temperature would be between 86 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (which is around 31 to 40 degrees Celsius). On the contrary, it could be -22 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (around -30 to -40 degrees Celsius) without an atmosphere.
In the meantime, more research will still be conducted to determine the nature of this planet. More projects and space programs like the such as Mission Centaur and Starshot Project are still in the planning process. Mission Centaur is planning to send up a small telescope to discover more information on Proxima b and planets like it. The Starshot Project is currently working on a project which involves a nanocraft technology which will be launched into the void of space and reach the system after 20 years.
