Editing Proxima Centauri (section)

===Planet b===
{{main|Proxima Centauri b}}

Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b, or Alpha Centauri&nbsp;Cb, orbits the star at a distance of roughly {{convert|0.05|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}} with an orbital period of approximately 11.2&nbsp;Earth days. Its estimated mass is at least 1.07&nbsp;times that of the [[Earth]].<ref name="FariaSuárezMascareñoSilva2022"/> Moreover, the equilibrium temperature of Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b is estimated to be within the range where water could exist as liquid on its surface; thus, placing it within the [[habitable zone]] of Proxima Centauri.<ref name=Guillem2016/><ref name=NYT-20160824>
{{cite news
 |last=Chang |first=Kenneth
 |date=24 August 2016
 |title=One star over, a planet that might be another Earth
 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/science/earth-planet-proxima-centauri.html
 |access-date=24 August 2016}}</ref><ref name=telegraph20160824>
{{cite news
 |last =Knapton |first =Sarah
 |date=24 August 2016
 |title=Proxima&nbsp;b: Alien life could exist on 'second Earth' found orbiting our nearest star in Alpha Centauri system
 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]  |publisher=[[Telegraph Media Group]]
 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/24/proxima-b-alien-life-could-exist-on-second-earth-found-orbiting/
 |access-date=24 August 2016 | url-access=subscription  |url-status=live
 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/24/proxima-b-alien-life-could-exist-on-second-earth-found-orbiting/
 |archive-date=12 January 2022
}}{{cbignore}}
</ref>

The first indications of the [[exoplanet]] Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b were found in 2013 by [[Mikko Tuomi]] of the [[University of Hertfordshire]] from archival observation data.<ref name=prd>
{{cite news
 |title=Proxima&nbsp;b is our neighbor ... better get used to it!
 |date=24 August 2016
 |website=Pale Red Dot
 |url=https://palereddot.org/proxima-b-is-our-closest-neighbor-better-get-used-to-it/
 |access-date=24 August 2016 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513054609/https://palereddot.org/proxima-b-is-our-closest-neighbor-better-get-used-to-it/
 |archive-date=13 May 2020
}}
</ref><ref>
Aron, Jacob. August 24, 2016. [https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130884-100-proxima-b-closest-earth-like-planet-discovered-right-next-door/ Proxima b: Closest Earth-like planet discovered right next door]. ''New Scientist''. Retrieved August 24, 2016
</ref> To confirm the possible discovery, a team of astronomers launched the Pale Red Dot<ref group="nb">
"[[Pale Blue Dot]]" is a reference to a distant photo of Earth taken by [[Voyager 1]].
</ref>
project in January&nbsp;2016.
<ref>
{{cite press release
 |title=Follow a live planet hunt!
 |url=https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann16002/
 |date=January 15, 2016
 |publisher=[[European Southern Observatory]]
 |access-date=24 August 2016}}</ref> On 24&nbsp;August 2016, the team of 31&nbsp;scientists from all around the world,<ref>
{{cite news
 |last=Feltman |first=Rachel
 |date=24 August 2016
 |title=Scientists say they've found a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our closest neighbor
 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]
 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/24/scientists-may-have-found-a-planet-orbiting-proxima-centauri-our-closest-star/
}}
</ref>
led by Guillem Anglada-Escudé of [[Queen Mary University of London]], confirmed the existence of [[Proxima Centauri b|Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b]]<ref name=spacecom>{{cite news
 |first =Samantha |last =Mathewson
 |date=24 August 2016
 |title=Proxima&nbsp;b by the numbers: Possibly Earth-like world at the next star over
 |website=Space.com
 |url=http://www.space.com/33837-earth-like-planet-proxima-centauri-numbers.html
 |access-date=August 25, 2016
}}
</ref>
through a peer-reviewed article published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref name=Guillem2016/><ref name="Nature 24 August 2016">
{{cite journal
 |last =Witze |first =Alexandra
 |date=24 August 2016
 |title=Earth-sized planet around nearby star is astronomy dream come true
 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]
 |volume=536  |issue=7617  |pages=381–382
 |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.20445  |doi-access=free
 |pmid=27558041  |bibcode=2016Natur.536..381W
}}
</ref>
The measurements were performed using two spectrographs: [[High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher|HARPS]] on the [[ESO 3.6 m Telescope]] at [[La Silla Observatory]] and [[Very Large Telescope#Instruments|UVES]] on the 8&nbsp;m [[Very Large Telescope]] at [[Paranal Observatory]].<ref name=Guillem2016/> Several attempts to detect a [[Transit (astronomy)|transit]] of this planet across the face of Proxima Centauri have been made. A transit-like signal appearing on 8&nbsp;September 2016, was tentatively identified, using the [[Bright Star Survey Telescope]] at the [[Zhongshan Station (Antarctica)|Zhongshan Station]] in Antarctica.<ref name=Liu2018>
{{cite journal
 |last1=Liu      |first1=Hui-Gen          |last2=Jiang     |first2=Peng
 |last3=Huang    |first3=Xingxing         |last4=Yu        |first4=Zhou-Yi
 |last5=Yang     |first5=Ming             |last6=Jia       |first6=Minghao
 |last7=Awiphan  |first7=Supachai         |last8=Pan       |first8=Xiang
 |last9=Liu      |first9=Bo               |last10=Zhang    |first10=Hongfei
 |last11=Wang    |first11=Jian            |last12=Li       |first12=Zhengyang
 |last13=Du      |first13=Fujia           |last14=Li       |first14=Xiaoyan
 |last15=Lu      |first15=Haiping         |last16=Zhang    |first16=Zhiyong
 |last17=Tian    |first17=Qi-Guo          |last18=Li       |first18=Bin
 |last19=Ji      |first19=Tuo             |last20=Zhang    |first20=Shaohua
 |last21=Shi     |first21=Xiheng          |first22=Ji      |last22=Wang
 |first23=Ji-Lin |last23=Zhou             |first24=Hongyan |last24=Zhou
 |display-authors=6
 |date=January 2018
 |title=Searching for the transit of the Earth-mass exoplanet Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b in Antarctica: Preliminary result
 |journal=[[The Astronomical Journal]]
 |volume=155 |issue=1 |id=12 |page=10
 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aa9b86  |doi-access=free
 |bibcode=2018AJ....155...12L  |s2cid=54773928
 |arxiv=1711.07018
}}
</ref>

In 2016, in a paper that helped to confirm Proxima Centauri&nbsp;b's existence, a second signal in the range of 60–500&nbsp;days was detected. However, stellar activity and inadequate sampling causes its nature to remain unclear.<ref name=Guillem2016/>