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The first report of an exoplanet within this range was in 1998 for a planet orbiting around Gliese 876 (15.3 light-years (ly) away), and the latest as of 2024 is one around Struve 2398 A (11.5 ly). The closest exoplanets are those found orbiting the star closest to the Solar System, which is Proxima Centauri 4.25 light-years away
This list is incomplete, currently containing 34 exoplanets, 11 of which probably lie inside their star's habitable zone. There are roughly 2,000 stars at a distance of up to 50 light-years from the Solar System [4] (64 of them are yellow-orange "G" stars like the Sun [5]). As many as 15% of them could have Earth-sized planets in the habitable ...
Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to Earth, [19] at a distance of about 4.2 ly (1.3 parsecs). [4] It orbits Proxima Centauri every 11.186 Earth days at a distance of about 0.049 AU, [1] over 20 times closer to Proxima Centauri than Earth is to the Sun. [20] As of 2021, it is unclear whether it has an eccentricity [e] [23] but Proxima Centauri b is unlikely to have any obliquity. [24]
It is the least massive and innermost known planet of the Proxima Centauri system. It is the least massive exoplanet detected with the radial velocity method as of 2022. Its proximity to the star and short orbital period of 5.1 days suggest that it is likely tidally locked due to strong tidal forces.
Closest star to the Sun with exactly six [29] exoplanets, and closest K-type main sequence star to the Sun with a multiplanetary system. One of the oldest stars with a multiplanetary system, although it is still more metal-rich than the Sun. None of the known planets is in the habitable zone. [30] 61 Virginis: Virgo
The planet, dubbed Proxima b because it orbits Proxima Centauri, is thought to be a rocky and slightly more massive than Earth -- but that's not all.
HD 219134 b is the closest exoplanet to Earth to be detected transiting in front of its star. The planet has a mass 4.5 times that of Earth, a radius about 1.6 times that of Earth, with a three-day orbit around its star. Combining the size and mass gives it a density of 6 g/cm 3, confirming that it is a rocky planet. [84] [85] [86]
Due to its large mass and its distance from Proxima Centauri, the exoplanet is uninhabitable and too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface, with an equilibrium temperature of approximately 39 K (−234.2 °C; −389.5 °F). [1] [5] The planet is not transiting its parent star from the point of view of an Earth-based observer. [6]