New ‘lost’ planet orbiting the nearest star to our Solar System discovered
SCIENTISTS have discovered a new planet orbiting the closest star to our Solar System.
The mysterious world "Proxima c" sits just over four light-years from Earth, or about 270,000 times the distance from our planet to the Sun.
That may sound a hefty trek, but astronomers say the planet's close proximity to Earth makes it a prime candidate for future manned missions.
It also promises to aid our understanding of the wider Universe.
"The proximity of the planet means it is one of the best possible chances for direct observations that will enable detailed understanding of another planet," said Professor Hugh Jones, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire.
"In the future, Proxima c might become a possible target for more direct study by humankind’s first attempt to travel to another star system."
The newly found planet orbits Proxima Centauri, a "red dwarf" star – the smallest and coolest type of star – about 4.2 light-years from Earth.
Centauri is eight times smaller than the Sun and became famous in 2016 with the discovery of a planet in orbit, Proxima b, that's thought to be the nearest "Earth-like" world to our own.
Proxima c is therefore the second planet known to orbit our neighbouring star.
Little is known about the cosmic object, though scientists suggest it's about twice the size of Earth.
It orbits Centauri every five years at a distance of around 139million miles.
For their study, an international team of scientists tracked Centauri using a giant telescope in Chile known as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
They discovered the new planet by looking at changes to the star's light caused by the various hunks of rock orbiting it.
It's thought Proxima c may be a "super-Earth", a type of planet that's heavier than Earth but lighter than the Solar System's bigger planets, such as Jupiter.
What is an exoplanet?
Here's what you need to know...
- An exoplanet is a planet that is located outside of our Solar System and one that is orbitting its own star, like how Earth orbits the Sun
- They are very hard to see with telescopes because they are often hidden by the brightness of their star
- Nasa sent the Kepler space telescope into orbit with the purpose of finding Earth sized exoplanets that might support life
- Over 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered so far and more missions to find even more exoplanets are planned
- A good way to spot an exoplanet is to look for "wobbly" stars because a disruption to star light can indicate that a planet is orbitting it and therefore blocking out light on occasion
- Expoplanets are very common in the Universe and the more we find that look like Earth the closer we get to knowing if we're not alone out there
Experts say more evidence is needed to confirm that hunch.
Until then, the planet's makeup, atmosphere and habitability remain a mystery.
"We look forward to confirming the signal with new facilities and finding out how similar or different from our Solar System planets Proxima c really is," Professor Jones said.
The research was published in the
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In other space news, an asteroid that could have caused a ‘violent sky explosion’ as powerful as 30 nukes recently zipped past Earth.
Scientists want to move the Sun and our Solar System to save Earth from killer asteroids.
And, Nasa has announced it will soon stop "hitching rides with Russia" and instead run all-American manned rocket flights starting this year.
What do you think we'll find on the new planet? Let us know in the comments...
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