The discovery of Proxima B by a team of astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) toward the end of August promptly attracted attention of the global scientific community, mainly because the exoplanet is believed to be habitable.

Proxima B is orbiting its host star Proxima Centauri, which is the nearest star to Earth, slightly more than four light years away. It is almost an Earth-sized planet, merely 10 per cent larger in diameter than our planet.

As the new found exoplanet is orbiting its host star within a habitable zone, it is expected to have liquid water on its surface, and it is a proven fact that liquid water is one of the key trigger of life.

The facts that it is very similar in size to Earth and that it orbits its host star within a habitable zone prompted many scientists to predict that it can be supporting an alien life of some kind. It has also shown a ray of hope for humans’ future plans to colonize an exoplanet and become a multi-planet species.

However, Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star and it is smaller and dimmer than our Sun.
It is so different that if there is any life on Proxima B, it could be drastically different from what we know.

Moreover, only a few facts are known about the newly discovered Proxima B, with other things remained clouded in mystery. For the time being, we can expect that the discovery of this exoplanet will occupy scientists for decades to come.