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BySethBorenstein The Associated Press WASHINGTON After scan- ning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like plan- etswherelifemightexist,as- tronomers have found one right next door. A planet that's rocky like Earth and only slightly big- ger has been discovered or- biting Proxima Centauri , the nearest star to our solar system, scientists reported Wednesday. It is probably in the not-too-hot, not-too- cold Goldilocks Zone where liquidwater—akeytolife— is possible, if the planet has an atmosphere. And it is a mere 4.22 light- years from Earth, or nearly 25 trillion miles. It is easily the closest po- tentially habitable planet ever detected outside our solar system — and one that could be reachable by tiny, unmanned space probes be- fore the end of the century, in time for some people alive today to witness it. The international team of astronomersthatannounced the discovery did not actu- ally see the planet but de- duced its existence indi- rectly, by using telescopes to spot and precisely calcu- late the gravitational pull on the star by a possible orbit- ing body — a tried-and-true method of planet-hunting. "We hit the jackpot here," said Guillem Anglada-Es- cude , an astrophysicist at the Queen Mary University of London and lead author of a study on the discovery in the journal Nature . He said the planet is "more or less what we have on Earth." They're calling it Proxima b, and while it could be like Earth in the important fea- tures, it would probably still look very alien. Itis4.6millionmilesfrom its red dwarf star, or just one-twentieth of the dis- tance between Earth and the sun, creating an incredi- ble orange sky with no blue, so it looks like a perpetual sunset. And if that's not dif- ferentenough,theplanetcir- clesitsstarsoquicklythatits year is about 11 days. The planet doesn't rotate, so one side is always facing its star and the other side is always dark and colder. It is bombarded with X-rays and ultraviolet light, but that wouldn't necessarily be fa- tal to life, since life can exist underground,scientistssaid. Scientists in the past 20 years have found more than 3,000planets outsideourso- lar system, or "exoplanets." And more than 40 of them seem to be in the habitable zone. But this one "basically puts a giant flashing neon sign on the nearest star say- ing: See this right here," said study co-author R. Paul But- ler of the Carnegie Institu- tion for Science. It would take more than eight years for an energy pulse or radio signal travel- ing at the speed of light to go there and back. NASA's New Horizons probe, the fastest spacecraft launched, left Earth hurtling toward Pluto at about 36,000 mph. At that speed, it would take more than 78,000 years to get there. Earlier this year, an all- star team of scientists and business leaders includ- ing Stephen Hawking an- nouncedBreakthroughStar- shot , a project to send out hundreds of light-powered space probes that would weigh about a gram, travel atone-fifth thespeed oflight and send pictures back to Earth. Breakthrough Starshot executive director Pete Wor- den, a former top NASA of- ficial, said organizers are hoping to include Proxima in their plans. Even at the hoped-for speed, it will take 20 years to get there and four more years for photos to come back. Worden said he hopes they will launch by 2060. Yet in the vastness of space, Proxima b is prac- tically just over the fence, "like your next-door neigh- bor," Butler said. Proxima b ismorethan50trillionmiles closerthanthepreviousclos- estpotentiallyhabitableexo- planet. The next step may be for a powerfulEarthorspacetele- scope to get an actual image oftheplanet,Butlersaid.But even when that comes, and it may be a decade or two away, it will only be a single dot: "You're not going to see espresso bars at the beach. You're not going to see aliens waving at us." Outside experts praised the finding as rock-solid and thrilling. "It is inspiring to find a potentially habitable world on our cosmic doorsteps, around our next star," said exoplanet expert Lisa Kalte- negger, director of Cornell University's Carl Sagan In- stitute . "It is significant be- cause if we needed inspira- tion to try to reach the next star, now we have it." Four years ago another group of scientists excited the world with a claim of a planet — not in the hab- itable zone — around Alpha Centauri, a star a bit farther away. That claim was met with suspicion by other as- tronomers,wholatershowed thatitwasunlikelytobereal but a ghost signal from the past. Xavier Dumusque, an au- thor of the Centauri paper, said it is no longer clear if that was a planet, but in an email he said the team led by Anglada-Escude makes a good case for its own dis- covery. Anglada-Escude said there is only a 1-in-10-mil- lion chance that what they saw was a false positive, pro- claiming "no doubt" that what he found was real. That's because a telescope inChilethatwasusedtolook atProximaeverynightfor60 daysfoundagravitationalef- fect on its star every 11 days or so. Then a close examina- tion of years of data from a different telescope found the same thing, Butler said. "That cinches it," Butler said. "You've now seen the exact same signal. Two dif- ferent telescopes, two differ- ent techniques." There are still many ques- tions, especially the crucial one of whether the planet has an atmosphere. Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who isn't part of the discovery team but is ad- visory board chairman for Breakthrough Starshot, said Proxima might some- day prove vital to humani- ty's future. ASTRONOMY Ja ck po t: S ci en ti st s fi nd E art h- li ke p la net at s ta r ne xt d oo r THEASSOCIATEDPRESS An artist rendering provided by the European Southern Observatory shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. Construction Burrows Constructi on Remodel, New Additions, Siding Repair and Replacement, Water and Dryrot New Construction Foundation to Finish Ph:(530) 515-9779 Residential•Commerical PATIOS•DECKS REFRENCES Lic#824770 Roofing Call for Estimates! Residential, Commercial & Mobiles www.harbertroofing.com HARBERT ROOFING, INC. 530-223-3251 Lic# 696974 Time To Roof? Blinds Need Blinds? 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