A new potential Earth-like exoplanet has been recently discovered by the European Southern Discovery (ESO). The discovery was made through the reflecting telescope of the La Silla Observatory that was previously a part of the Alpha Centauri Bb discovery back in 2012. The planet that orbits only within its star’s habitable zone (i.e Proxima Centauri) is expected to be only 4.25 light years away from Earth. Proxima Centauri is a part of the Alpha Centauri trinary star system. While both the Alpha Centauri A and B are considered to be the two brightest stars in the system, Proxima Centauri is known as the dimmest star that is closest to Earth.
The German weekly magazine name Der Spiegel, which initially brought the news to public said, "The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface - an important requirement for the emergence of life. Never before have scientists discovered a second Earth that is so close by."
Today, Professor Phillip Lubin from the University of California and NASA’s DEEP-IN program told Universe Today via email that; "The discovery of possible planet around Proxima Centauri is very exciting. It makes the case of visiting nearby stellar systems even more compelling, though we know there are many exoplanets around other nearby stars and it is very likely that the Alpha Centauri system will also have planets." The anonymous author of the publication claims that the ESO will be announcing the discovery by the end of August. Reports say that ESO spokesman Richard Hook refused to deny or confirm the discovery as yet and said, “We are not making any comment.”
An Earth like planet that is actually within our reach sounds like an overwhelming idea but unfortunately, we cannot get excited yet because this news might be too good to be true and also, the article’s author was anonymous. Proxima Centauri was known to scientists since several years. If a planet this good was so close to Earth, why did NASA not discover it earlier?
