Celestia Forums

I think that Alpha centauri could host the closest Earth-like planet.

A study shows that 22% of G and K-type stars could have Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone.

There are 9 Sun-like stars within 25 light-years. If we make the calculation, two of those stars could have an Earth-like planet.

7 out of the 9 closest Sun-like stars have low metallicity. The only two stars with high metallicity are Alpha Centauri A and Delta Pavonis, but this star is suspected to be variable.

What do you guys think?

Well, statistics don't equal reality, and AFAIK there is no correlation between stellar metallicity and the presence of terrestrial planets.

You're probably aware of the recent ESO observations of Alpha Centauri, which didn't detect any planets of Neptune mass or greater. This is good news for the presence of terrestrial planets at Alpha Cen, though of course we still can't say.

I think an actually Earth-like planet as close as Alpha Centauri would be very unlikely, but you never know!

(Unrelated note: keep in mind that anyone can contribute to Celestia, including you!)

Did you hear about the second planet in orbit around Proxima Centauri? I want one of Proxima Centauri's potentially habitable planets to be named Jetix.