Third potential planet discovered around star closest to our sun

Astronomers have detected evidence of a third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our sun's nearest stellar neighbour, some 40 trillion kilometres away.

Astronomers have detected evidence of a third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our sun's nearest stellar neighbour, some 40 trillion kilometres away.

A light-year, the distance light travels in one year in a vacuum, is equivalent to about 9.5 trillion kilometres

With a mass about a quarter of Earth's, the rocky object is one of the lightest exoplanets ever found. A study detailing the discovery published Thursday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The small, dim red dwarf star has just an eighth of the sun's mass and is already home to one confirmed Earth-size planet and possibly a second, more distant planet candidate.