A Second Planet May Orbit Earth’s Nearest Neighboring Star

Berkeley, Calif.—Astronomers say they may have detected a second planet around Proxima Centauri, our solar system’s nearest neighboring star. According to Del Sordo, Proxima c would be “a spectacular laboratory for direct imaging”—astronomers’ parlance for snapping a planet’s picture across the vast gulfs of interstellar space. Images of planets in the Proxima Centauri system could also help resolve lingering debates over the potential for red dwarf stars to harbor habitable planets; such stars are often more active than solar-type stars, blasting accompanying worlds with showers of high-speed particles and hard radiation that can strip away atmospheres like so much sand-blasted paint.

Source: www.scientificamerican.com