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A Second Planet May Orbit Earth's Nearest Neighboring Star

A Second Planet May Orbit Earth's Nearest Neighboring Star

5 years ago
Anonymous $fWzGa1uP8i

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-second-planet-may-orbit-earths-nearest-neighboring-star/

Berkeley, Calif.—Astronomers say they may have detected a second planet around Proxima Centauri, our solar system’s nearest neighboring star.

Announced at Breakthrough Discuss, an annual invitation-only interdisciplinary meeting held by the Breakthrough Initiatives (a scientific research organization primarily bankrolled by the Silicon Valley billionaire Yuri Milner), the planet’s existence remains unconfirmed—for now. Dubbed Proxima c, it would be a so-called super-Earth, with a minimum mass roughly six times that of our planet’s. Its nearly 1900-day orbit would likely make it a frigid, inhospitable place, orbiting some 1.5 times the Earth-sun distance from Proxima Centauri—which is a red dwarf star much smaller and dimmer than our familiar yellow sun. If confirmed, the newfound world would join Proxima b, a roughly Earth-mass planet discovered in 2016 in a more clement orbit around Proxima Centauri.