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Earth-like planet spotted orbiting Sun’s closest star

Shifts in starlight from Proxima Centauri, observed over more than 2 years, reveal its third planet.
  1. Davide Castelvecchi
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Astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun. Called Proxima Centauri d, the newly spotted world is probably smaller than Earth, and could have oceans of liquid water.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00400-3

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 11 February 2022: An earlier version of this article said that the planet was orbiting in Proxima Centauri’s habitable zone. The planet is in fact outside the habitable zone as defined in this paper.

References

  1. Faria, J. P. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 658, A115 (2022).

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