Astronauts may have seen a new planet around a nearby star – BGR

• Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to Earth, making it a prime target for further exploration of future interstellar missions.
• Scientists believe they have seen an unprecedented planet orbiting the three-leafed star system.
• The planet appears to be changing Alpha Centauri A, which is a star very similar to our own Sun, although it is not known what conditions on the planet would exist at this time.

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In seeking life outside the Earth, the most obvious places to find are those closest to us. In terms of interstellar study, the closest star system to Earth is Alpha Centauri, a collection of two bright stars and one dim star, and at least one or two planets. The circumstances of Alpha Centauri ‘s world are largely unknown, but new ideas suggest that another planet may be orbiting one of the stars, which is big news.

Mar The Keeper reports, researchers have seen something in studies on Alpha Centauri A – one of the two Sun – like stars in the system – that looks very much like a planet. At a distance of just over 4 light years from Earth, the system is right next door, but it ‘s still a big challenge to see something as tiny as a planet. The astronauts are simply not sure that it is a planet… but it could be.

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In a new research paper, the astronauts describe what they saw, and while they seem to be actually promising to be a planet, they hoard their claims by note that it could be, well, almost anything. The bright spot around the star appeared in the lens of the Very Large Telescope, operated by the Southern European Observatory in Chile. It seems to be big enough to be a planet, but that could be something else.

But what would be big enough to look like a planet? Lots of things, of course. The researchers offer a few possibilities, including a large mass of dust or a group of asteroids. They even suggest the sobering ability that the bright spot is just a glitch in the visuals, and that there’s nothing there to begin with. That would be a real bummer, but it’s completely within capacity.

“We also talk about the possible detection of an exoplanet or exozodiacal disc around α Centauri A,” the researchers write. “However, the invention of an instrument of unknown origin cannot be denied. These results demonstrate the potential of rocky zone exoplanets imaging with conventional and upcoming telescopes. ”

In the years to come, with more powerful telescopes getting ready for the time in mind, we may be able to learn more about the system and the planets. It may be necessary to prove the existence of this new planet.