The nearest exoplanet found so far is Proxima Centauri b. It was the closest planet discovered outside the solar system.
The planet is almost as large as our own with about 1.3 Earth masses. It rotates around a faint central star, called a red dwarf or M star, in 11.2 days. The orbital situation shows that water might be present on the planet.
So far, scientists found almost 50 planets in the "habitable zone" of the suns. However, this new planet was almost in a "temperate" orbit around Proxima Centauri.
This star, like other M stars, radiates strong solar flares and X-ray emissions that would make life questionable. Even the initial water in the planet around Proxima Centauri is not clear, although models show that it earlier had water almost as much as the earth's ocean. Hence, even if the star did once have the same quantity of water as the earth, there should even now be plenty of water surrounding it, which would make it a habitable planet.
Does the planet have a protective, geomagnetic field that can help to keep it safe from Proxima Centauri's excessive radiation? As it would be close to the star, this might be crucial for life to exist. Other factors include organic compounds as well as a weighty mechanism to recycle nutrients, such as plate tectonics.
However, the discovery of the potentially habitable exoplanet will help scientists to develop spectroscopic tools to check its atmosphere, and will also be a platform for travelling to the next star, as visualised by the 100-Year Starship Initiative.
