Proxima Centauri: The closest exoplanet to Earth – Astronomy Magazine
An artist’s conception of Proxima Centauri b as a rocky-like exoplanet, with Proxima Centauri and the Alpha Centauri binary system in the background. The actual appearance of the planet is unknown.
ESO/M. Kornmesser
Astronomers are finding new exoplanets nearly every day. But this particular answer probably won’t change, because astronomers have already found two planets orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun.
One of them was discovered in 2016, and is just slightly larger than Earth. Even more exciting, it orbits in the habitable zone of its star, where temperatures allow liquid water – and therefore possibly life. A second world was announced in 2020. This one is a few times the size of Earth, and orbits farther away, on a colder track.
