Discovered Closest Ever 'Second Earth'

                Scientists might have found the closest ever candidate for another Earth that could support life. The new found planet orbits around a now well-investigated star in Proxima Centauri, near us, according to reports. It is similar to Earth and could support life, it is claimed. The researchers that found the planet are expected to show it off at the end of this month. But until then they are saying nothing about the revolutionary find. One report said the planet will be the closest ‘second Earth’ ever found. The Proxima Centauri system, which includes our solar system.

The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface – an important requirement for the emergence of life. The report didn’t give any mode details on the planet itself. NASA revealed a second Earth to much fanfare last year. That planet was called Kepler 452b, and is just 60% larger than Earth and in many other ways is almost identical to our planet.

But since it is so far away – 1400 light years – the chance of ever getting there or learning much more about it is limited. The new discovery is far, far nearer, at just 4.24 light years from us. But that still makes it too far away to actually visit with today’s space technology. But it means that we will be able to learn far more about the planet than we could about further away ones.