Our home, Earth. A blue paradise for life as we know it. The only planet
out of thousands discovered beyond our solar system to host living organisms.
In some ways, Earth is an embarrassment of riches. Abundant with persistent and pervasive
lifeforms that can be found in almost every nook and cranny. From the boiling,
caustic pools of Yellowstone National Park to the frigid, Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
Earth may well be the rarest place in the universe.
And we get the privilege of calling it home.
But out there, beyond Earth, exoplanets have been found that exist within the goldilocks zone. The
region around a star where it is warm enough for water to flow. Where the temperature is just right
for life as we know it. Not to hot and not too cold. Yet, as it stands,
the universe is silent. we still have not found any sign of alien life.
However, when it comes to exoplanet hunting, we have only just scratched the surface,
because it is estimated that every star in the Milky Way has on average at least one
planet orbiting it. And there are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy, alone.
The Universe is likely teeming with alien worlds that are waiting to be discovered.
And just a few years ago, scientists made one of the most exciting exoplanet discoveries
so far, a rocky planet similar in size to Earth orbiting within the habitable zone
of the closest star to the Sun. Proxima Centauri.
This is our destination, but even though Proxima Centauri is the closest star to us,
it is still incredibly far away. The mysterious world we are attempting to explore is 4.2
light-years away, much further than any human-made object has ever travelled.
But luckily for us, within this simulation we are not restricted by the cosmic speed limit,
we can go faster than the speed of light.
As we make this incredible journey to our neighbouring star and its mysterious world,
let me try and put the distances you are now travelling into some kind of context.
4.2 light-years is about 40 trillion km Or about 25 trillion miles.
If the famous Interstellar probe, Voyager one was heading towards Proxima Centauri at its current
speed of 17.3 km every second, for example, it would still take over 73,000 years to arrive.
The reason Proxima Centauri is so dim is because it is a small type of star called a red dwarf,
one of the most common type of star in the Milky Way. It contains only about an eighth of the mass
of the Sun and is about 500 times less bright. But orbiting this faint star is a handful of planets,
one of which is called Proxima B. A world of possibility.
Proxima B is complicated because it shares many similarities with Earth,
but also vast differences. For example, the exoplanet has a mass of 1.27 Earths,
is about the same size as Earth and sits in the habitable zone of Its star.
But it is also tidally locked and in synchronous rotation with its star.
This means that the daytime side you can see is constantly being bombarded with light,
while the dark side, is in perpetual nighttime.
Because of its Earth-like mass, however, scientists do believe that it could be a rocky,
terrestrial planet similar to Earth. And because of its distance from its star,
it is also possible for liquid water and potentially even life to exist on its surface.
Although In addition, it is unclear at this stage if, Proxima b has a thick atmosphere.
The planet lies very close to its star, completing one orbit every 11 Earth days.
So, the radiation coming from Proxima Centauri might have stripped away Proxima
B's air, making it impossible for the alien planet's surface to hold onto liquid water.
However, there is still hope for this exoplanet, because if Proxima B has a strong magnetic field,
for example, the field would deflect the radiation from the atmosphere,
and even the slow rotation of a tidally locked planet would be enough to generate
a magnetic field, as long as part of the planet's interior remained molten.
Until we can visit this mysterious neighbouring star and its fascinating planet for real,
or develop a telescope powerful enough to directly see it,
we may never know if it is or isn't Earth-like.
For now, Earth is the only known planet where life can comfortable exist.
And even though there are potentially habitable worlds just around the corner, cosmically
speaking, they are still much too far away. But if we ever do send a probe into interstellar space,
on a mission to explore a distant alien world, well, we have our first target.
Did you enjoy your trip across interstellar space to the closest known exoplanet to Earth? Let
me know in the comment section below. Where do you want to explore next? Anywhere is possible.
If you want to continue these epic adventures throughout the universe,
then remember to like, subscribe and tap the notification bell so you never miss an
upload. Thank you for joining me on this epic journey and I'll see you all on the next one.