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Artist's impression of the planet orbiting Proxima Centauri

We've never gotten a clear look at an exoplanet, in part because they're all so far away. That's not the example with Proxima b, a small exoplanet that orbits the nearest star to our own, Proxima Centauri. It'southward a mere 24 trillion miles away! Hey, four calorie-free years is right next door in astronomical terms. Scientists haven't been able to spot Proxima b transiting its star nevertheless, just a new study of the Proxima Centauri system shows how Proxima b could be a habitable ocean planet.

The new study will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and was headed by researchers at the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory. We already know that Proxima b is in the habitable zone of its parent star, so water on the surface would at least have a run a risk at being liquid. The team was able to narrow downwardly Proxima b's dimensions and simulate its composition — these figures lay out a vision for Proxima b that include a planet-wide ocean and Earth-similar atmosphere.

Scientists don't know how large Proxima b is, but we have a skilful handle on its mass. Information technology's about one.3 times the mass of Earth. Using models of planetary structure, the Marseille team worked out what sort of compositions we could wait from Proxima b at both ends of that scale. However, this model is based on what we know of planets in our own solar system. We have no choice but to presume there are some commonalities among planets across the universe until nosotros tin can get a better look at exoplanets.

Based on its mass, Proxima b probable has a radius betwixt 3,722 and v,543 miles. At the smaller end of the scale, Proxima b would have to be extremely dense (it would be slightly smaller than World, just 30% more massive). That would hateful its internal structure is generally metallic like Mercury. This doesn't dominion out water on the surface, but there would not be much of it.

eso exoplanet

The far more interesting option is that Proxima b is toward the larger finish of the radius scale. If it were significantly larger than Globe, its mass would exist a fifty/l split betwixt stone and water. That would mean a single planet-broad ocean nearly 124 miles deep. Toward the lesser of this sea, the incredible pressure would shrink h2o into super-dense water ice. This model also supports a thin, Earth-like atmosphere.

In that location's a lot of speculation about Proxima b correct now, merely that'due south all we take. Information technology's possible that Proxima b has a construction entirely dissimilar the planets in our solar system. The only way to know for sure it to detect information technology directly. Our all-time hope of that is the James Webb Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in well-nigh a twelvemonth.