A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri

Guillem Anglada-Escude; Pedro J. Amado; John Barnes; Zaira M. Berdinas; Paul Butler; Gavin A. L.  Coleman; Ignacio de la Cueva; Stefan Dreizler; Michael Endl; Benjamin Giesers; Sandra V.  Jeffers; James S. Jenkins; Hugh Jones; Marcin Kiraga; Martin Kurster; Maria J. Lopez-Gonzalez; Christopher J. Marvin; Nicolas Morales; Julien Morin; Richard P. Nelson; Jose L. Ortiz; Aviv Ofir; Sijme-Jan Paardekooper; Ansgar Reiners; Eloy Rodriguez; Cristina  Rodriguez-Lopez; Luis F. Sarmiento; John P. Strachan; Yiannis Tsapras; Mikko Tuomi; Mathias Zechmeister

doi:10.1038/nature19106

A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri

Guillem Anglada-Escude, Pedro J. Amado, John Barnes, Zaira M. Berdinas, Paul Butler, Gavin A. L. Coleman, Ignacio de la Cueva, Stefan Dreizler, Michael Endl, Benjamin Giesers, Sandra V. Jeffers, James S. Jenkins, Hugh Jones, Marcin Kiraga, Martin Kurster, Maria J. Lopez-Gonzalez, Christopher J. Marvin, Nicolas Morales, Julien Morin, Richard P. NelsonJose L. Ortiz, Aviv Ofir, Sijme-Jan Paardekooper, Ansgar Reiners, Eloy Rodriguez, Cristina Rodriguez-Lopez, Luis F. Sarmiento, John P. Strachan, Yiannis Tsapras, Mikko Tuomi, Mathias Zechmeister

Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR)

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Abstract

At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity4 are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	437-440
Journal	Nature
Volume	536
Early online date	24 Aug 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19106
Publication status	Published - 25 Aug 2016

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Anglada-Escude, G., Amado, P. J., Barnes, J., Berdinas, Z. M., Butler, P., Coleman, G. A. L., de la Cueva, I., Dreizler, S., Endl, M., Giesers, B., Jeffers, S. V., Jenkins, J. S., Jones, H., Kiraga, M., Kurster, M., Lopez-Gonzalez, M. J., Marvin, C. J., Morales, N., Morin, J., ... Zechmeister, M. (2016). A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri. Nature, 536, 437-440. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19106

@article{f79c497898514e398f8458e8a5043346,

title = "A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri",

abstract = "At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun{\textquoteright}s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity4 are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface.",

author = "Guillem Anglada-Escude and Amado, {Pedro J.} and John Barnes and Berdinas, {Zaira M.} and Paul Butler and Coleman, {Gavin A. L.} and {de la Cueva}, Ignacio and Stefan Dreizler and Michael Endl and Benjamin Giesers and Jeffers, {Sandra V.} and Jenkins, {James S.} and Hugh Jones and Marcin Kiraga and Martin Kurster and Lopez-Gonzalez, {Maria J.} and Marvin, {Christopher J.} and Nicolas Morales and Julien Morin and Nelson, {Richard P.} and Ortiz, {Jose L.} and Aviv Ofir and Sijme-Jan Paardekooper and Ansgar Reiners and Eloy Rodriguez and Cristina Rodriguez-Lopez and Sarmiento, {Luis F.} and Strachan, {John P.} and Yiannis Tsapras and Mikko Tuomi and Mathias Zechmeister",

year = "2016",

month = aug,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1038/nature19106",

language = "English",

volume = "536",

pages = "437--440",

journal = "Nature",

publisher = "Nature Research",

}

Anglada-Escude, G, Amado, PJ, Barnes, J, Berdinas, ZM, Butler, P, Coleman, GAL, de la Cueva, I, Dreizler, S, Endl, M, Giesers, B, Jeffers, SV, Jenkins, JS, Jones, H, Kiraga, M, Kurster, M, Lopez-Gonzalez, MJ, Marvin, CJ, Morales, N, Morin, J, Nelson, RP, Ortiz, JL, Ofir, A, Paardekooper, S-J, Reiners, A, Rodriguez, E, Rodriguez-Lopez, C, Sarmiento, LF, Strachan, JP, Tsapras, Y, Tuomi, M & Zechmeister, M 2016, 'A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri', Nature, vol. 536, pp. 437-440. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19106

TY - JOUR

T1 - A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri

AU - Anglada-Escude, Guillem

AU - Amado, Pedro J.

AU - Barnes, John

AU - Berdinas, Zaira M.

AU - Butler, Paul

AU - Coleman, Gavin A. L.

AU - de la Cueva, Ignacio

AU - Dreizler, Stefan

AU - Endl, Michael

AU - Giesers, Benjamin

AU - Jeffers, Sandra V.

AU - Jenkins, James S.

AU - Jones, Hugh

AU - Kiraga, Marcin

AU - Kurster, Martin

AU - Lopez-Gonzalez, Maria J.

AU - Marvin, Christopher J.

AU - Morales, Nicolas

AU - Morin, Julien

AU - Nelson, Richard P.

AU - Ortiz, Jose L.

AU - Ofir, Aviv

AU - Paardekooper, Sijme-Jan

AU - Reiners, Ansgar

AU - Rodriguez, Eloy

AU - Rodriguez-Lopez, Cristina

AU - Sarmiento, Luis F.

AU - Strachan, John P.

AU - Tsapras, Yiannis

AU - Tuomi, Mikko

AU - Zechmeister, Mathias

PY - 2016/8/25

Y1 - 2016/8/25

N2 - At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity4 are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface.

AB - At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity4 are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface.

U2 - 10.1038/nature19106

DO - 10.1038/nature19106

M3 - Article

VL - 536

SP - 437

EP - 440

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri

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