Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!
Okay, calm down, James. Breathe. Breathe.
Okay. Let’s take a look at Alpha Centuari, a binary star system located within a mere 5 light-years from Earth. In the bottom corner of the image, you can see a red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri, which is believed to be a companion to the Alpha Centauri pair. And in orbit of Promixa, you can see… you can see… ohmigod!
Apparently the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has discovered a planet orbiting Proxima. Not only that, it’s an Earth-like planet. And furthermore, it’s within Proxima’s habitable zone. This according to an unnamed source in a German newspaper.
The ESO is a highly respected, extremely trustworthy astronomical institution. As for unnamed sources… okay, let’s put our skeptical hats back on.
Let’s also remember that Earth-like planets are not necessarily all that Earth-like. For the last few weeks, I’ve been blogging from the surface of Titan, which is often described as one of the most Earth-like worlds in the Solar System. And let me tell you, it is miserable here. I guess there could be life on Titan, but not life as we humans understand it.
Mars is also sometimes described as Earth-like, and believe it or not, so is Venus.
Supposedly the ESO will release its official findings at the end of August. Until then, we’ll just have to sit back, wait patiently, and stay skeptical.
P.S.: Ohmigod! Proxima Centauri might have… might… I can’t even! OH MY GOD!!!
Link
Earth-like Planet Around Proxima Centauri Discovered from Universe Today.
Planet Pailly 
That’s it: we’re moving!
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I’ll see you there!
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At least now all those stories about going to the Centauri system first can be sorta right.
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I remember a few Sci-Fi stories that said we’d go to Proxima first, even before Alpha Centauri proper. That seemed like a really bold prediction back in the day. A red dwarf star with planets? Habitable planets at that? That seemed like a real stretch.
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“Far Centaurus” was the story that always stuck with me. I read that not long after reading “Earthlight” and “A Fall of Moondust” and it blew my mind.
But, yes: most writers had us going to the two main stars. I think one of the only planets from a red sun to end up in a story was Down, which showed up in a couple of Larry Niven’s stories, “Handicapped” being the main one.
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I have a feeling a lot more Sci-Fi stories will be set in red dwarf systems going forward.
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That makes sense as they seem the best candidates for earth-like planets.
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Exciting! But given that Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, I wouldn’t expect anything remotely like Earth.
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Yeah, I read at some point that red dwarfs are more violent, in terms of solar flare activity, than yellow dwarfs like our sun. So this alleged planet may be a bit overcooked. Still, even a Mars-like planet would be an exciting find if it’s this close.
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Practically in our backyard! (Well, assuming our backyard was 25 trillion miles deep, but still close by astronomical standards.) I wonder of James-Webb will be able to image it.
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That would be really cool if it could, even if it could only show us a blurry dot.
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