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Astronomy

Meet our closest neighbour

Nature volume 491, pages 200–201 (2012)Cite this article

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The discovery of a possible extrasolar planet that has the same mass as Earth and orbits α Centauri B, a member of the closest star system to the Sun, is both a technical achievement and cause for excitement. See Article p.207

One big goal of astronomers studying exoplanets — planets that orbit stars other than the Sun — is the detection of an Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The habitable zone is usually defined as the range of distances from the parent star at which water, if present, would be liquid. On page 207 of this issue, Dumusque et al.1 report the discovery of a candidate exoplanet that brings this goal one step closerFootnote 1.

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Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion1 were published online on 17 October 2012.

References

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  1. Artie P. Hatzes is at the Thuringian State Observatory, Tautenburg 07778, Germany.,

    Artie P. Hatzes

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  1. Artie P. Hatzes
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Correspondence to Artie P. Hatzes.

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Hatzes, A. Meet our closest neighbour. Nature 491, 200–201 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11636

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