A low-mass planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri at a distance of 1.5 AU

M. Damasso, Fabio Del Sordo, Guillem Anglada Escude, P. Giacobbe, Alessandro Sozzetti, L. Morbidelli, G. Pojmański, Domenico Barbato, R. P. Butler, Hugh Jones, Franz-Josef Hambsch, James S. Jenkins, Maria J. Lopez-Gonzalez, Nicolas Morales, Pablo A. Peña Rojas, Cristina Rodriguez-Lopez, Eloy Rodriguez, Pedro J. Amado, Guillem Anglada, F. FengJose F. Gómez

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20 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Our nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, hosts a temperate terrestrial planet. We detected in radial velocities evidence of a possible second planet with minimum mass m c sin i c = 5.8 ± 1.9 M ⊕ and orbital period P c = 5.21 - 0.22 + 0.26 years. The analysis of photometric data and spectro-scopic activity diagnostics does not explain the signal in terms of a stellar activity cycle, but follow-up is required in the coming years for confirming its planetary origin. We show that the existence of the planet can be ascertained, and its true mass can be determined with high accuracy, by combining Gaia astrometry and radial velocities. Proxima c could become a prime target for follow-up and characterization with next-generation direct imaging instrumentation due to the large maximum angular separation of ~1 arc second from the parent star. The candidate planet represents a challenge for the models of super-Earth formation and evolution.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbereaax7467
Number of pages14
JournalScience Advances
Volume6
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2020

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