A new planet similar in size to Earth has been discovered orbiting one of the stars of the Alpha Centauri just four light years away.
It is the closest ever celestial body discovered to our solar system and has raised hopes of finding a habitable planet in the Earth’s vicinity.
With a surface temperature of 1,200C, the planet is too hot to support any known forms of life but researchers believe it is likely there will be other planets nearby.
Astronomer Stephane Udry hailed the find as ‘landmark’ discovery after four years observing the star system, roughly 25trillion miles away.
‘It’s a landmark discovery because it’s very low mass and it’s our closest neighbour,’ he said after announcing his findings in science journal Nature.
‘Its orbit is very close to its star and it must be much too hot for life as we know it but it may well be just one planet in a system of several.’
University of California astronomer Greg Laughlin added: ‘This is our back yard, so to find out that planet formation occurred there is just extraordinary.’
More than 800 exoplanets have been discovered over the last 20 years.
Astronomers have speculated about planets orbiting the Alpha Centauri since the 19th century, however instruments have only recently become sensitive enough to detect them.