Artist’s impression of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b shown as of an arid (but not completely water-free) rocky Super-Earth. (ESO/M. Kornmesser)

Earth-like Exoplanet Orbiting the Solar System’s Nearest Star Confirmed

Using the ESPRESSO spectrograph, astronomers from the University of Geneva have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting the nearest star to ours. The discovery comes with a surprise, the planet may have a companion.

Proxima b an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of the nearest star to our own in the Proxima Centauri solar system — located just 4.2 light-years from Earth — has been confirmed by an international team of astronomers from the University of Geneva. The team used the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) spectrograph, attached to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) located in the Chilean desert to make their observation.

The team’s findings are published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The nearest stars to the Sun, including Proxima Centauri — home to the Earth-like Proxima b, confirmed to exist by the ESPRESSO instrument. (NASA Photojournal)

Proxima b, an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star, was initially detected four years ago by an older spectrograph, HARPS, as a disturbance in the star’s orbit, which suggested the presence of another body. These measurements were followed up by the more sophisticated ESPRESSO instrument, currently the most powerful…