--- title: "New Research: Closest Exoplanet to Earth Could Host Life" description: "An international team of researchers was able to confirm the existence of Proxima b, an Earth-like planet that's orbiting the star closest to the Sun." date: "2020-05-28" modified: "2020-05-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/new-research-closest-exoplanet-could-host-life" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Earth-like planet" - "ESO" - "espresso" - "exoplanet" - "proxima b" - "proxima centauri" --- # New Research: Closest Exoplanet to Earth Could Host Life ![An international team of researchers was able to confirm the existence of Proxima b, an Earth-like planet that's orbiting the star closest to the Sun.]() *\Image: NASA\* Using state-of-the-art astronomical instruments, an international team of researchers has confirmed the existence of [Proxima b](), an Earth-like planet that's orbiting the closest star to our solar system, [Proxima Centauri](). "Confirming the existence of Proxima b was an important task, and it's one of the most interesting planets known in the solar neighborhood," Alejandro Suarez Mascareño, lead author of [ a paper]() about the research published in the journal *Astronomy & Astrophysics*, said in [a statement](). They found that Proxima b is 1.17 times the mass of Earth, smaller than the older estimate of 1.3 times. It orbits its star in just 11.2 days. Nailing down the mass of a distant planet with such precision is "completely unheard of," said 2019 Nobel Prizer winner Michel Mayor, who laid the groundwork for the technology that made the discovery possible, in the statement. Proxima b was first discovered in 2016 using HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher), a planet-hunting spectrograph mounted to one of the telescopes at the European Southern Observatory at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The scientists were able to hone in on the planet with ESPRESSO, a new generation spectrograph also at the observatory in Chile, which boasts three times the precision as HARPS. "We were already very happy with the performance of HARPS, which has been responsible for discovering hundreds of exoplanets over the last 17 years," Francesco Pepe, astronomy professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and leader of ESPRESSO. "We're really pleased that ESPRESSO can produce even better measurements, and it's gratifying and just reward for the teamwork lasting nearly 10 years," Pepe, who also co-authored the paper, added. Even though Proxima b orbits its star at such a close distance, it still receives about the same amount of energy from it that Earth does from the Sun. And that has astronomers excited about the potential of finding alien life. But there's some bad news: Proxima Centauri tends to bombard any planets in its vicinity with a ferocious amount of X rays — Proxima b receives about 400 times the amount as Earth receives from its Sun. That leads to the question: "Is there an atmosphere that protects the planet from these deadly rays?" asked co-author Christophe Lovis, a researcher who worked on ESPRESSO, in the statement. Lovis hopes that the next generation of spectrographs — ESPRESSO's successor, "RISTRETTO," is already in the works — could help us find the answer. For us to get a closer look at Proxima b however, Proxima Centauri is "only" 4.2 light-years from the Sun — meaning it would still take [several thousand years]() to get there using today's propulsion technology. **READ MORE:** [ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth around the nearest star]() \[University of Geneva\] **More on Proxima:** *[SCIENTISTS FIND EVIDENCE OF SECOND PLANET ORBITING CLOSEST STAR]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()