4 ms·
Has it been spotted though? Indirect evidence shows something is there. But no one has seen it, not any image has been produced.
by JoeAltmaier 5y ago
Has it been spotted though? Indirect evidence shows something is there. But no one has seen it, not any image has been produced.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago'detected' would be more accurate, but this is a pop sci take on a press release that says "New planet detected around star closest to the Sun" [1] of a paper called "A candidate short-period sub-Earth orbiting Proxima Centauri" [2]. That's often how it goes, each new medium picking it up adding more and more embellishment, graphics of green-and-blue planets, and breathless fantasizing about one day colonizing the stars. "Earth-like planet spotted orbiting Sun's closest star" is a lot sexier than "We detect a signal at 5.12 ± 0.04 days with a semi-amplitude of 39 ± 7 cm s−1. The analysis of subsets of the ESPRESSO data, the activity indicators, and chromatic RVs suggest that this signal is not caused by stellar variability but instead by a planetary companion with a minimum mass of 0.26 ± 0.05 M⊕ (about twice the mass of Mars) orbiting at 0.029 au from the star. The orbital eccentricity is well constrained and compatible with a circular orbit." [1] https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/ https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/ [2] https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142337 https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142337