"An Earth-sized planet next door: that was the startling announcement last August. Astronomers had found an exoplanet orbiting the sun’s closest stellar neigh- bor, a cool red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri (1). Even better, the nearby world orbited within its parent star’s habitable zone, meaning liquid water could exist on the planet’s surface, which raised the prospects for its harboring life."

Read More:

• All eyes on Proxima Centauri b: http://www.pnas.org/content/114/26/6646.full.pdf
• Is there life around the nearest stars?: https://reddots.space/searching-for-the-keys-of-life-under-the-nearest-l...

Image: Proxima b, shown here in an artist’s conception orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, may prove to be a test case for how astronomers conduct initial inspections of potentially habitable planets. Original image courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser; retouched version courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Karl 432.