A number of simulations and models have been created that assume Earth-like compositions and include predictions of the galactic environment, internal heat generation from radioactive decay and magnetic induction heating, planetary rotation, the effects of stellar radiation, the amount of volatile species the planet consists of and the changes of these parameters over time. Relatively little is known about Proxima Centauri b as of 2021 - mainly its distance from the star and its orbital period - but a number of simulations of its properties have been made. Observations of the Fe- Si- Mg ratios of Proxima Centauri may allow a determination of the composition of the planet since they are expected to roughly match these of the planets various observations have found Solar System-like ratios of these elements. Depending on the composition, Proxima Centauri b could either be a Mercury-like planet with a large core - which would require particular conditions early in the planet's history - to a very water-rich planet. This makes it similar to Earth, but the radius of the planet is unknown and hard to determine and the mass borders on the cutoff between Earth-type and Neptune-type planets. −0.17 M 🜨 as estimated by the original discoverers more recent estimates as of 2020 are similar but all estimates are dependent on the inclination of the planet's orbit and may be underestimates.
The estimated mass of Proxima Centauri b is 1.27 +0.19 Proxima Centauri b is unlikely to have stable orbits for moons. The age of the planet is unknown Proxima Centauri itself may have been captured by Alpha Centauri and thus not necessarily of the same age as the latter, which are about 5 billion years old. As of 2021 it is unclear if it actually has an eccentricity but Proxima Centauri b is unlikely to have any obliquity. −0.0051 au, over 20 times closer to Proxima Centauri than Earth is to the Sun. It orbits Proxima Centauri every 11.186 +0.001 Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to Earth, being at a distance of c. The discovery of Proxima Centauri b, a planet at habitable distances from the closest star to the Solar System, was a major discovery in planetology and has drawn interest to the Alpha Centauri star system that Proxima is a member of. In 2020, another planet Proxima Centauri c was discovered, while the existence of a dust belt around Proxima Centauri and of a third planet were as of 2021 unconfirmed. 2016 proposed that an exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could explain these anomalies. īefore 2016, observations with instruments at the European Southern Observatory in Chile had identified anomalies in Proxima Centauri which could not be satisfactorily be explained by flares or chromospheric activity of the star. Additionally, red dwarfs are by far the most common types of stars. Planets are very common around dwarf stars, with on average 1-2 planets per star, and about 20-40% of all red dwarfs have one in the habitable zone. Proxima Centauri had become a target for exoplanet searches already before the discovery of Proxima Centauri b, but initial studies in 20 ruled out the existence of larger-than-Earth exoplanets in the habitable zone. The amplitude and period of the motion were used to estimate the planet's minimum mass. The red symbols with black error bars represent data points, and the blue curve is a fit of the data. Velocity of Proxima Centauri towards and away from the Earth as measured with the HARPS spectrograph during the first three months of 2016. The planet's proximity to Earth offers an opportunity for robotic space exploration, for example with the Breakthrough Starshot project.
Proxima Centauri is a flare star with intense emission of electromagnetic radiation that could rip an atmosphere off the planet. Whether it is actually habitable is a complex function of a number of unknown properties, such as whether it has an atmosphere. Its other properties are only poorly understood but it is believed to be a possibly Earth-like planet with a lower limit on its mass of 1.27 +0.19 −0.0051 au with an orbital period of approximately 11.186 +0.001 Proxima Centauri b orbits the star at a distance of roughly 0.0485 +0.0161 4.2 ly from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, making it and Proxima c the closest known exoplanets to the Solar System. Proxima Centauri b (or Proxima b ) is an exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is the closest star to the Sun and part of the triple star system Alpha Centauri.
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