Proxima Centauri B

It has been recently announced that astronomers have discovered a possible terrestrial planet in the habitable zone around the star nearest to the Sun, Proxima Centauri. We discussed a little about Proxima Centarui when we discussed the nearest star system to the Sun, Alpha Centauri.


So what exactly does this mean? Terrestrial planets are those planets much like Earth in terms of size and composition. The habitable zone are the parts of a planetary system where water can be in liquid form on the surface of the planet. Remember, that water is a important to life in the universe.


Now, having a Earth-like planet in the habitable zone does not necessarily mean that the planet has water. We won't know for a long time, either.

Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our Sun. It is actually a triple star system, with Alpha Centauri A, a G2V star much like our Sun, Alpha Centauri B, a slightly smaller and cooler K1V star, and Proxima Centauri (also Alpha Centauri C), an M6V red dwarf. Proxima Centauri is named thus, because is the closest star to our Sun.


Alpha Centauri is approximately 4.34 light years away, and as shown above, the largest of the stars is very similar to the Sun. This stellar system is important and will be the first star system humanity will ever visit when we are finally able to leave our own Solar System. Right now, it would take about 81,000 years with our fastest spacecraft technology to reach the star system.


Once we get to Alpha Centauri, we will be able to see if it has planets similar to ours and if the planetary system would be recognizable to us. We would want to see if there were any Earth-like planets and if there could be life on them. Just like the Moon should be our first logical step in colonizing the Solar System, Alpha Centauri is the first logical step in exploring our galaxy.