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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
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]
However, Proxima Centauri's classification as a red dwarf casts doubts on the habitability of any exoplanets in its orbit due to low stellar flux, high probability of tidal locking, small circumstellar habitable zones and high stellar variation. Another likely candidate is Alpha Centauri, Earth's nearest Sun-like star system 4.37 light-years away.
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.
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]
The distance separating the planet and its star is just 7% of the distance between Earth and the Sun, and the planet receives 1.6 times more energy from its star than Earth does from the Sun.
Below there are lists the nearest stars separated by spectral type. The scope of the list is still restricted to the main sequence spectral types: M, K, F, G, A, B and O. It may be later expanded to other types, such as S, D or C. The Alpha Centauri star system is the closest star system to the Sun.
The closest exoplanet around a solitary star. Also located in the second closest star system to the Sun, after Alpha Centauri. [6] Not to be confused with the disproved planet Barnard's Star b of 2018, which shared the same name. BD+00 444b 0.0151 ± 0.0035 0.2108 ± 0.0059 15.669 0.105 ± 0.025 519 ± 6 transit 77.99 ± 0.036 0.642 ± 0.026 ...