Astronomers have found a rocky and possibly Earth-like planet circling the star closest to the sun. the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) La Silla Observatory in Chile had spotted evidence of a rocky, potentially habitable world orbiting Proxima Centauri, a small, dim star that lies just 4.25 light-years from the sun.

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, a star much smaller and cooler than the sun. About three-quarters of all stars in the Milky Way galaxy are red dwarfs.Proxima Centauri lies just 0.24 light-years from the two stars of Alpha Centauri, and many astronomers regard the red dwarf as part of the latter system.

The unnamed exoplanet was said to be orbiting Proxima Centauri – the red dwarf low-mass star about 4.343 light years from earth and the closet star to our solar system.The proximity to earth of the newly discovered planet also means that it sits within the habitable zone that could allow the planet to hold liquid water on its surface.

The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that would allow it to have liquid water on it’s surface – an important requirement for the emergence of life.