Interview with NASA exoplanet researcher Martin Still to talk about the discovery of Proxima b

40 Views

Thanks! Share it with your friends!

You disliked this video. Thanks for the feedback!

Published Oct 6, 2020

Researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced a potentially game-changing discovery.

The researchers found evidence that our sun's closest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, not only has its own planetary system, but the first-identified planet from this system, "Proxima b" is Earth-sized (about 1.3 times our planet's girth); rocky; and falls inside that star's "habitable zone" (meaning it could potentially hold liquid water).

All these finds are WOW-factor-y in their own right, but taken together have a potentially revolutionary implication: The closest star to the sun has a planet that might be able to support life.

We should reiterate that there is no proof of anything like that yet (we don't even know the make-up of Proxima's b's atmosphere, or indeed, if it even has one). However, the overall Earthiness of the planet can't help but spark the imagination.

Unfortunately, the current state of space travel places Proxima b frustratingly out of reach (it might take 20 years using our most advanced rockets). But new technologies and observatories may soon come online that can provide us with a closer look at this alien world.

To find out more about this amazing discovery, we spoke with NASA Exoplanet Program Scientist for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Dr. Marin Still about what this discovery means, and what we should do next.

You can find the original video here: https://www.facebook.com/PCMag/videos/10154401517988396/

And more cool interviews right here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article/346681/the-convo-pcmag-nerds-it-up-with-the-worlds-most-interesti