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Next Door Neighbors? Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in Nearest Star System to Us
Artist’s impression of the planet around Alpha Centauri B. Credit: ESO
Astronomers have discovered an enticing new planet that could be considered our next-door neighbor. The planet is orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system — the closest system to our own, just 4.3 light years away — and the planet has a mass about the same as Earth. It is also the lightest exoplanet ever discovered around a sun-like star. While this planet is likely too hot to contain life as we know it, the star system could possibly host other worlds that could be habitable, researchers from the European Southern Observatory at La Silla say.
“This result represents a major step towards the detection of Earth twins in the immediate vicinity of the Sun.” the team wrote in their paper.
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Read the rest of Next Door Neighbors? Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in Nearest Star System to Us (730 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: alpha centauri, ESO, Extrasolar Planets
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2012-10-16 18:22:58
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