Unconfirmed rumors have appeared of a Earth - sized planet orbit Proxima Centauri , the penny-pinching star to the Sun , within the habitable zone . The story first appeared in the German weeklyDer Spiegel , but so far the source stay anonymous .
Der Spiegel credits the find to the European Southern Observatory ( ESO ) , and claim the official promulgation will come “ at the end of August ” . However , when contact byAFP , ESO spokesman Richard Hook say : “ We are not get any comment . ”
In October 2012 , towidespread fanfare , the ESOannouncedthe existence of Alpha Centauri Bb , which would have dress a record for the unaired planet outside the Solar System . Sadly , however , subsequent grounds led to the claim’sretraction . Understandably , this may have made the ESO particularly nervous to protect their high report by not making another uncorroborated claim on a closely related topic . If the report is indeed dependable , the delay could defend a desire to triplex - see the finding for error before making an announcement .
Even Der Spiegel ’s anonymous sourcesaid : “ We were work at the boundary of technically executable measurement . ”
The silence from the ESO means that , even if the major planet live , the world will have to waitress to learn how interchangeable the planet is to Earth in mountain . as well , it is indecipherable whether it lies in the heart of the inhabitable zone , or at the edges , where condition are more thin . Even at the best possible location , Proxima ’s tendency forlarge flareswould threaten prospects for life .
Proxima Centauri is an M - type red dwarf that , at a distance of 4.2 light - years , is currently our dear neighbor beyond the Sun . Its 500,000 - plus - yr orbit around Alpha Centauri A and B will see its parental stars usurp it as the closest star in about27,000 class .
Despite its closeness , Proxima is too faint to be see even with a small telescope , and has been figuratively overshadowed in the public imagination by the Sun - like star it circle . Indeed , the most late work to look relating Proxima Centauri to satellite was on whether its small gravitation might have affect planetal organization around the star it orb . Nevertheless , as we havefound planet , admit bumpy , telluric - case objectsaround other M dwarfs , attending has turned to Proxima itself . A late study calculated the distance a satellite would need to be from Proxima to behabitable , while others reported efforts tofind such planets .
In April a project was declare to send a space vehicle toAlpha Centauriwithin 20 years of launching . If the rumors are true , the tiny neighboring star first discovered 101 year ago may be an even more enticing target .
[ H / T : Phys.org ]
