Holy sci - fi awesome space balls . European astronomers have discovered an exotic satellite in Alpha Centauri , the star arrangement that ’s jolly much our neighbor . The planet , which is globe - sized , is only 4.3 light years away .
The worldly concern - sized planet is orbiting Alpha Centauri B , one of the three hotshot in that star system , and is “ also the light exoplanet ever describe around a whiz like the Sun . ” How did they find oneself the planet that ’s been in our metaphorical space backyard ? It ’s actually a new proficiency that ’s quite astonishing :
The European team observe the planet by pick up the tiny wobbles in the movement of the champion Alpha Centauri B created by the gravitative pull of the orb planet . The consequence is minute — it induce the star to move back and forth by no more than 51 centimetres per second ( 1.8 km / hour ) , about the speed of a baby crawl . This is the high precision ever achieved using this method .
The major planet is n’t completely Earth - like as it ’s only 4 million miles away from its virtuoso ( we ’re 93 million mi away ) and it completes one domain — or year — in only 3.2 days but still , receive a planet in Alpha Centauri is not just awesome ( which it altogether is ) but crucial because the technique used could potentially lead to other planet discovery too . [ ESO , ABC News , MSNBC ]
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