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 -