New planet in our galactic neighborhood

This artist’s impression shows a close-up view of Proxima d, a planet candidate recently found orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The planet is believed to be rocky and to have a mass about a quarter that of Earth. Two other planets known to orbit Proxima Centauri are visible in the image too: Proxima b, a planet with about the same mass as Earth that orbits the star every 11 days and is within the habitable zone, and candidate Proxima c, which is on a longer five-year orbit around the star. ESO/L. Calçada

A new paper published this month reports that the star nearest to our Sun, Proxima Centauri, is a host star to not two, but three exoplanets (meaning planets circling a star that is not our own). The newly-discovered planet has been dubbed Proxima d.

Astronomers have evidence that a third planet is circling the red dwarf star, which is situated 4.2 light-years from our solar system and is therefore the closest star to Earth after our own Sun. The exoplanet candidate is known as Proxima d, and is estimated to be 25 percent as massive as Earth — which would make it more massive than Mars, but less than Venus.