The close proximity between Earth and Proxima b – the planet believed to have living conditions – and advances in technology that have led scientists to hope that spacecraft can reach the newly discovered planet within the next 50 years.
Scientists from the Observatory of Southern Europe (ESO) and Harvard University have just discovered Proxima b – a rocky planet considered to be the “brother” of Earth with almost perfect conditions for the development of the Earth. life.
The planet has a red sky
According to Nature, Proxima b revolves around the closest red dwarf star in the solar system Proxima Centauri – the smallest star in the Centauri Alpha star system. It has “perfect conditions to support life like Earth”, about 30% larger than Earth, hot enough for liquid water to survive, there is almost certainly earth, rock or even water. gas.
Many similar planets have been discovered in the past. The particularity of Proxima b is that it is only 4.23 light years from Earth, so it is considered to be the closest “perfect copy” to Earth, opening up prospects for discovery, tourism. and even migration.
Proxima b was detected via Doppler effect data from telescopes in Chile. Researchers found this object using data obtained from 2000 to 2014 and 2016. More than 30 astronomers spent a lot of time studying the motion of parent star Proxima Centauri before its publication. This discovery on August 24.
Although considered a copy of the Earth, Proxima b is still very different. The distance between it and the mother star is only 5% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun, so it only takes 11.2 days to orbit it.
This more that Proxima b is under the influence of ultraviolet rays and X-rays of Proxima Centauri makes that it has a very different climate from Earth, a radioactive environment. Its sky was not blue, but had a strange red color. The temperature on Proxima b is between -90 and 300 ° C.
However, scientists claim that Proxima b still has all the elements for life to exist. “For a planet with conditions like Proxima b, it makes perfect sense to think that this place can support life” – said Mr. Guillem Anglada-Escude – co-author of the study.
“While other studies confirm that the atmosphere in Proxima Centauri is conducive to life, it is one of the greatest discoveries of our career,” said Dr John Barnes at the Open University (UK ).
Proxima B exploration project
Perhaps the most thrilled to hear about Proxima b are physicist Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner. In April, they jointly announced their intention to send a space probe to find information and life in a nearby star system.
Mr Milner has pledged to sponsor $ 100 million for the Breakthrough Starshot Project, with the goal of building a spacecraft with 20% of the speed of light with laser propulsion systems. They will be sent to the star system closest to the Sun, Alpha Centauri.
But with the discovery of Proxima b, the plan will change. “This discovery energizes the project, helping us to have a clearer focus in our discovery missions,” said Abraham Loeb – of Project Breakthrough Starshot.
Mr Loeb said that in the near future, Breakthrough Starshot is to launch a spacecraft with advanced photographic equipment to approach Proxima b in order to send the images back to Earth. This is very important in determining whether this object is the blue of the ocean, life or just the brown color of the earth, rocks.
Breakthrough Starshot announces that it will launch this project soon and launch the spacecraft in approximately 2-3 decades, with the goal of reaching Proxima Centauri approximately 20 years later. Then photos of Proxima b will be sent to and from Earth after 4.23 years.
The small probe is a reasonable choice to upgrade to Alpha Centauri at this time, the researchers explained. Because traditional spacecraft will take up to 20,000 years to reach their destination. The most important question today is to focus on the research and manufacture of laser propulsion systems.
