Scientists announced Proxima b’s discovery in August, and said it may be the first exoplanet — planet outside our Solar System — to one day be visited by robots from Earth. A team including CNRS astrophysicists have calculated the size and surface properties of the planet dubbed Proxima b, and concluded it may be an “ocean planet” similar to Earth. Proxima Centauri is smaller and 1,000 times weaker than our Sun, which means Proxima b is at exactly the right distance for conditions to be potentially habitable. “In this case, Proxima b would be covered by a single, liquid ocean 200 km deep,” said the CNRS. “In both cases, a thin, gassy atmosphere could surround the planet, like on Earth, rendering Proxima b potentially habitable,” it concluded.

Source: Mint October 06, 2016 13:52 UTC