“Proxima b: The Nearest Earth-like Planet and Its Habitable Zone”

Jakarta –

Scientists have discovered nearly 2,000 alien planets since the world was first confirmed orbiting a sun-like star in 1995. This search was conducted by astronomers to analyze how many Earth-like planets there could be.

Several planets that have been identified as similar to Earth include Gliese 667Cc, Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-62f, Kepler-186f, Kepler-452b, to Proxima b.

Of these planets, most are very far from Earth and the Sun. Some even reach a distance of 22 million light years.

Nearest Earth-like Planet

Even so, there is one planet named that according to scientists has the closest distance to our Sun, namely Proxima Centauri (Proxima b).

Proxima b is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting an M-type star. It is 1.27 times the mass of Earth and takes 11.2 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0485 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2016.

Proxima Centauri is about 4.2 light years from the Sun. While not that far off on a space scale, NASA estimates it would take humans 73,000 years to get there with current technology.

Proxima Centauri is only about one-eighth the mass of our Sun, a type of red dwarf star that is usually small and faint.

“Stars go from normal to 14,000 times brighter when viewed in ultraviolet wavelengths over the span of a few seconds,” said Meredith MacGregor, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder, quoted by Forbes.

Is Proxima b in the Habitable Zone?

Launching the NASA page, this planet is in the habitable zone of its star. However, Proxima b faces an attack of extreme ultraviolet radiation that is hundreds of times greater than Earth’s from the Sun.

That radiation produces enough energy to destroy not only the lightest molecules such as hydrogen but also, over time, heavier elements such as oxygen and nitrogen.

However, even though Proxima b’s orbit is in the habitable zone, namely the distance from its parent star where liquid water can pool on the planet’s surface, this does not mean that Proxima b is habitable.

Because there are many things that count. Such as whether water actually exists on the planet, or whether an atmosphere can survive in that orbit.

The atmosphere is also important to life as we know it. Having the right atmosphere allows for climate regulation, maintenance of a water-friendly surface pressure, protection from the perils of outer space weather, and home to the chemical building blocks of life.

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