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Jump50of 100 · 4.2 light years from Earth

Proxima Centauri b: the nearest known exoplanet

Proxima b is the nearest known exoplanet, 4.2 light years away and in its star’s habitable zone. Why that does not make it habitable.

ESO illustration of the rocky surface of Proxima b with its red star in the sky; it is not a photo
Illustration, not a photo Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser (CC BY 4.0) · original

Curious facts

  1. 4.2 light years away

    It is the nearest known exoplanet: about 4.2 light years away, orbiting Proxima Centauri inside its habitable zone, the band where liquid water could exist. 12

  2. An 11.2-day year

    Its mass is close to Earth’s and it goes around its star in just 11.2 days. 12

  3. Habitable zone is not habitable

    Being in that band does not make it habitable: its star is a red dwarf with strong flares. 12

Proxima Centauri b in Orbit

In the game, Proxima Centauri b is jump 50 of the route, 4.2 light years from Earth. Its logbook card says:

Logbook · Jump 50

Nearest known exoplanet, in its star's habitable zone

I want to try Orbit Already in the group: download

Two steps with the Google account you use on Play: join the group, then download the test. Google Play can take a while, sometimes more than an hour, before it lets you download it; if you see “Item not found”, wait and try again.

What Orbit is like

Sources

  1. ESO. eso.org/public/news/eso1629
  2. NASA, Proxima Centauri b. science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/proxima-centauri-b

Checked between 8 and 11 October 2026.

Illustration, not a photo Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser (CC BY 4.0) · original