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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Ian Sample Science editor

Scientists discover new planet orbiting nearest star to solar system

An artist's impression of Proxima d, which is orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri.
An artist's impression of Proxima d, which is orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Photograph: ESO/L. Calçada/EPA

Astronomers have found evidence for a new planet circling Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the sun.

The alien world is only a quarter of the mass of Earth and orbits extremely close to its parent star, at one tenth of the distance between the sun and Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet.

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