In August of 2016, Scientists and astronomers discovered an earth like planet orbiting the most nearby star to our own the sun, Proxima Centauri. This planet called Proxima Centauri B could be a potential harborer of life. Being so similar to earth in size (1.2 masses of the Earth) and close enough to Proxima Centauri that it is in its habitable zone, means scientists have come to the conclusion that life could exist here. The star Proxima Centauri B orbits, Proxima Centauri, is a red dwarf star and much smaller and cooler than our Sun (0.12 masses of the sun).
However despite this, the exoplanet has multiple issues that greatly reduces the likelihood of it harbouring life. For example the planet experiences Stellar winds 200 times that of earth, meaning the atmosphere would be extremely hard to travel through. Furthermore the sides of the planet have unequal time being exposed to their star’s light meaning that one side could he extremely cold and dark however the other being warmer or potentially too warm.
The planet recently also observed by the famous James-Webb telescope (launched by NASA) the planet has a rocky surface, however whether water is able to occur on this planet is unknown. Although this planet may or may not be habitable for humans, the journey would earth would be extremely hard and with current technology, almost impossible. To give a rough estimate, the Voyager 1 probe (Launched by NASA in 1977), which is the furthest man made object from earth would take a further 7,300 years to even reach Proxima Centauri, from its current position. In the future travelling at the speed of light may be possible for humans to achieve however for now that will remain in the very distant future.
Proxima Centauri B is a planet that was one of great interest and still is since its discovery in 2016, and is just one of the many planets that scientists say could potentially harbour life. Being the closest exoplanet to our solar system, this planet is still extremely far away.
