Proxima b – the nearest Earth-like exoplanet

Some 4,2 light years from Earth, Proxima Centauri is our closest stellar neighbour. Around the star, astronomers think there is an Earth-like planet. Proxima b has at minimum 1.3 times the mass of the Earth, it should be rocky and orbits in the habitable zone around the star.

Credits:
A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima CentauriGuillem Anglada-Escudé, Pedro J. Amado, John Barnes, Zaira M. Berdiñas, R. Paul Butler,
Gavin A. L. Coleman, Ignacio de la Cueva, Stefan Dreizler, Michael Endl, Benjamin Giesers,
Sandra V. Jeffers, James S. Jenkins, Hugh R. A. Jones, Marcin Kiraga, Martin Kürster,
Marίa J. López-González, Christopher J. Marvin, Nicolás Morales, Julien Morin,
Richard P. Nelson, José L. Ortiz, Aviv Ofir, Sijme-Jan Paardekooper, Ansgar Reiners,
Eloy Rodríguez, Cristina Rodrίguez-López, Luis F. Sarmiento, John P. Strachan,
Yiannis tsapras, Mikko Tuomi & Mathias Zechmeister
Nature doi:10.1038/nature19106
NASA, ESA, K. Sahu and J. Anderson (STScI), H. Bond (STScI and Pennsylvania State University), M. Dominik (University of St. Andrews)
ESO/M. Kornmesser