Scientists investigating Proxima Centauri said that the nearest habitable world beyond our Solar System might be right on our doorstep – astronomically speaking.
Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our planet, has an Earth-sized planet orbiting about it that moves in a zone that would make liquid water on its surface a possibility. It is 40 trillion km away and reaching it requires thousands of years travel using a spacecraft.
Guillem Anglada-Escudé whose "Pale Red Dot" team reports the existence of the new world in the journal Nature, said: "For sure, to go there right now is science fiction, but people are thinking about it and it's no longer just an academic exercise to imagine we could send a probe there one day,"
"This planet is at 5% of the Earth's distance from the Sun. However, Proxima is 1,000 times fainter than the Sun. So the flux - the energy - reaching Proxima b is about 70% of what the Earth receives. It's like taking Earth a bit further away, but it's comparable.”