Proxima Centauri B Planet
by Science Photo Library
Title
Proxima Centauri B Planet
Artist
Science Photo Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Proxima Centauri B. Artwork depicting a planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri (red star at right). This planet was proposed by Alan Schultz et al based on observations using the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997. It is claimed that the planet has a mass about ten times that of Jupiter, and has a highly eccentric (elongated) orbit. This object could instead be a brown dwarf, an object of stellar composition which is just too small to shine by its own light. Proxima Centauri is a flare star of spectral class M5, and at 4.2 light years is the closest star to the Sun. It forms a triple system with alpha-1 Centauri (above centre) and alpha-2 Centauri (upper right).
Uploaded
September 17th, 2018
Embed
Share
Comments
There are no comments for Proxima Centauri B Planet. Click here to post the first comment.