Watch: This Earth-like planet that was recently discovered could support life
Thirty-one scientists from eight countries discovered Proxima b.
It has been the dream of scientists searching for extra-terrestrial intelligence to locate another planet that seems capable of supporting life. So, whenever a candidate pops up, the excitement meter shoots up.
An earth-like planet named Proxima b has been discovered with conditions that could support the existence of water. And that's a shorthand for "capable of supporting life".
Located approximately 4.2 light-years – 40 trillion kilometres – from Earth, the planet orbits Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun. Since it is relatively close to our planet, future missions could be undertaken to the planet, though current space transportation technology means a probe will take 70,000 years to reach the planet.
This video simulation shows viewers what such a journey to that star might look like. It's done at 20 per cent at the speed of light. The tiny red dot is Proxima b, which is 1.3 times bigger than Earth.
The videos below are further artistic depictions of the planet, which is being called a "second Earth".
Here's an interview with the team of scientists which discovered the planet as part of the Pale Red Dot collaboration. They talk about the instruments used and how far the research on the planet has reached. Right now they have a lot of information about its movement and the temperature on its surface, which is similar to Earth's.
In 2015, NASA had announced that they had found a "second Earth" in deep space that was 1,400 light years away. NASA said that the planet, Kepler-452b, was 60 per cent larger than Earth. The SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) institute has been listening to signals from the planet, but so far there has been nothing to suggest the presence of intelligent life.