Proxima Centauri c

Coordinates: 14h 29m 42.9487s, −62° 40′ 46.141″

Proxima Centauri c (also called Proxima c[2] or Alpha

Proxima Centauri c
Centauri Cc) is a controversial[4] exoplanet candidate claimed to
be orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is the
closest star to the Sun and part of a triple star system. It is located
approximately 4.2 light-years (1.3 parsecs; 40 trillion kilometres;
25 trillion miles) from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus,
making it, Proxima b, and Proxima d the closest known exoplanets
to the Solar System.

Proxima Centauri c is a super-Earth or mini-Neptune about 7 times

as massive as Earth, orbiting at roughly 1.49 AU (223 million km;
139 million mi) every 1,928 days (5.28 yr).[3] Due to its large mass
and its distance from Proxima Centauri, the exoplanet is
uninhabitable, with an equilibrium temperature of approximately Schematic: Orbits of Proxima
39 K (−234.2 °C; −389.5 °F).[1] The planet is not transiting its Centauri d, Proxima Centauri b and
parent star from the point of view of an Earth-based observer.[5] Proxima Centauri c around Proxima
Centauri
The planet was first reported by Italian astrophysicist Mario
Damasso and his colleagues in April 2019. Damasso's team had Discovery[1]
noticed minor movements of Proxima Centauri in the radial Discovered by Damasso et al.
velocity data from the ESO's HARPS instrument, indicating a
Discovery site HARPS
possible second planet orbiting Proxima Centauri.[6] The discovery
was published in January 2020.[1] In June 2020, the planet's Discovery date January 2020
existence was initially confirmed using Hubble astrometry data Detection Radial velocity
from c. 1995, allowing its inclination and true mass to be method
determined.[3][7] Also in June 2020, a possible directly imaged Orbital characteristics
counterpart of Proxima c was detected in the infrared with
SPHERE, but the authors admit that they "did not obtain a clear Semi-major axis 1.489 ± 0.049
detection".[8] If their candidate source is in fact Proxima AU[2]
Centauri c, it is too bright for a planet of its mass and age, implying Eccentricity 0.04 ± 0.01[3]
that the planet may have a ring system with a radius of around
Orbital period 1928 ± 20 d[3]
5 RJ.[8] (sidereal)

However, a 2022 study questioned the planetary nature of the Inclination 133 ± 1[3]
observed radial velocity signal corresponding to Proxima c, Longitude of 331 ± 1[3]
attributing it to systematic effects.[4] If this is the case, it is unclear ascending node
why astrometric observations detected what appeared to be a Longitude of −4 ± 4[3]
similar planetary signature. periastron
Time of 2 456 202 ± 21[3]
See also periastron
Semi-amplitude 1.1 ± 0.2[3]
List of largest exoplanets
Star Proxima
Centauri
 List of nearest exoplanets Physical characteristics
Mass 7 ± 1 MEarth[3]
References Temperature 39 K (−234.2 °C;
1. Damasso, Mario; et al. (January 2020). "A low-mass −389.5 °F)[1]
planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri at a distance
of 1.5 AU" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC6962037). Science Advances. 6 (3): eaax7467.
Bibcode:2020SciA....6.7467D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.
edu/abs/2020SciA....6.7467D).
doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax7467 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2
Fsciadv.aax7467). PMC 6962037 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6962037). PMID 31998838 (ht
tps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31998838).
2. Kervella, Pierre; Arenou, Frédéric; Schneider, Jean
(March 2020). "Orbital inclination and mass of the
exoplanet candidate Proxima c". Astronomy &
Astrophysics. 635: L14. arXiv:2003.13106 (https://arxiv.o
rg/abs/2003.13106). Bibcode:2020A&A...635L..14K (htt
ps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020A&A...635L..14K).
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202037551 (https://doi.org/10.1
051%2F0004-6361%2F202037551). S2CID 214713486
(https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:214713486).
3. Benedict, G. Fritz; McArthur, Barbara E. (June 2020). "A
Moving Target—Revising the Mass of Proxima Centauri
c" (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/
ab9ca9). Research Notes of the AAS. 4 (6): 86.
Bibcode:2020RNAAS...4...86B (https://ui.adsabs.harvar
d.edu/abs/2020RNAAS...4...86B). doi:10.3847/2515-
5172/ab9ca9 (https://doi.org/10.3847%2F2515-5172%2
Fab9ca9). S2CID 225798015 (https://api.semanticschol
ar.org/CorpusID:225798015). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
4. Artigau, Étienne; Cadieux, Charles; Cook, Neil J.;
Doyon, René; Vandal, Thomas; et al. (June 23, 2022).
"Line-by-line velocity measurements, an outlier-resistant
method for precision velocimetry" (https://doi.org/10.384
7%2F1538-3881%2Fac7ce6). The Astronomical
Journal (published August 8, 2022). 164:84 (3): 18pp.
arXiv:2207.13524 (https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.13524).
Bibcode:2022AJ....164...84A (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/2022AJ....164...84A). doi:10.3847/1538-
3881/ac7ce6 (https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-3881%2
Fac7ce6).
5. Gilbert, Emily A.; Barclay, Thomas; Kruse, Ethan;
Quintana, Elisa V.; Walkowicz, Lucianne M. (2021), "No
Transits of Proxima Centauri Planets in High-Cadence
TESS Data", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space
Sciences, 8: 190, arXiv:2110.10702 (https://arxiv.org/ab
s/2110.10702), Bibcode:2021FrASS...8..190G (https://ui.
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021FrASS...8..190G),
doi:10.3389/fspas.2021.769371 (https://doi.org/10.338
9%2Ffspas.2021.769371)
 6. Billings, Lee (April 12, 2019). "A Second Planet May Orbit Earth's Nearest Neighboring Star"
(https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-second-planet-may-orbit-earths-nearest-neighb
oring-star/). Scientific American. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
7. Benedict, Fritz (June 2, 2020). "Texas astronomer uses 25 year-old Hubble data to confirm
planet Proxima Centauri c" (https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20200602).
McDonald Observatory. University of Texas.
8. Gratton, R.; et al. (June 2020). "Searching for the near-infrared counterpart of Proxima c
using multi-epoch high-contrast SPHERE data at VLT". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 638:
A120. arXiv:2004.06685 (https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.06685). Bibcode:2020A&A...638A.120G
(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020A&A...638A.120G). doi:10.1051/0004-
6361/202037594 (https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F202037594).
S2CID 215754278 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:215754278).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Proxima_Centauri_c&oldid=1155053651"