Discovered in 2016 by Guillem Anglada-Escudé a researcher from Queen Mary university of london, Proxima Centauri b is a rocky planet larger than Earth in size (also called a Super-Earth) that orbits Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun. Although this star is the closest star to our sun, it is actually 4.246 light-years away from earth. Proxima Centauri b is 4.5 to 5 billion years old while Earth is 4.543 billion years old. It takes 11.2 Earth days to orbit Proxima Centauri. Some people used to think this planet is habitable but the planet can not hold its own atmosphere leaving it exposed to radiation.

Although the planet has many advantages and obstacles for life, there might be some chance that life may thrive on this planet. In fact some animals like Bdelloid rotifers and Tardigrades could survive radiation. Perhaps these animals could evolve into a more advanced life form.

Citations:

NASA.gov

Queen Mary university of London.ac.uk

Institute of Space Sciences.csic.es

Britanica.com

National Geographic.com