Knowledge/Technology: The nearest habitable planet may be an ocean

that’s all We reportedThe closest Earth-like planet to our solar system — “only” 4 light-years away — Proxima Centauri bt was discovered in August and orbits Proxima Centauri in the habitable zone, at just the right distance for water, if any, to remain on the surface in liquid form. (If a planet is too close to its central star — like our Mercury or Venus — then the water evaporates, and if it orbits very far away — look at the outer gas planets of our solar system — then it freezes).

Proxima System NASA

A Proxima Centauri According to astronomers’ calculations, it may be 30% larger than the Earth and orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance of about 7.5 million kilometers. This is about one-tenth the distance of Mercury from the Sun, but researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research claim that liquid water may exist on its surface. Proxima Centauri is much smaller and its light is about a thousand times fainter than that of the Sun, so its planetary orbital distance is just right for life to develop on it.

The size of exoplanets is usually calculated by the so-called transit method, based on the obstruction of the star’s light. However, no transits have yet been observed for Proxima b, so the CNRS team relied on computer simulations. According to the results, the planet’s radius is almost the same as that of the Earth, or up to 1.4 times larger.

At the minimum radius (5,990 km), it is probably a very dense planet with a metallic core and a rocky mantle. If there is water on its surface, its mass would be at most 0.05% of the mass of a rocky planet (the mass ratio of the Earth’s ocean is 0.02%). According to the maximum simulation with a radius of 8,920 km, 50% of Proxima b’s mass is made up of the core and mantle, and 50% is made up of the ocean. In this case, there must be a huge ocean on the surface that is 200 km deep.

According to calculations of the two models, a thin atmosphere could surround the Earth, which further increases the chances of life forming – French astrophysicists in Physical Organization.