Do any habitable worlds exist in the closest stellar system to our own, Alpha Centauri? For years scientists have struggled to answer this question, unsuccessfully seeking to pierce the overpowering glare of the two sunlike stars, Alpha Centauri A and B, to see signs of orbiting planets (a third member of the system, the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, is already known to possess at least one companion).
The scientific payoff for unveiling Alpha Centauri’s planetary retinue could be tremendous. At little more than four light-years away, a fraction of a stone’s throw in cosmic distances, these stars are tantalizingly close—right on our celestial doorstep. Any planets there would be prime targets for further study, but Earth-like worlds potentially harboring life would be the grandest of all. Now a group of scientists plans to conduct a search for such worlds like never before, using a privately funded telescope to revolutionize our knowledge of Alpha Centauri. “We have this unique opportunity to reveal if there is a ‘habitable zone’ planet in the system,” says Olivier Guyon from the University of Arizona, part of the telescope’s team. “This is something that has never been done before.”
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