Start Packing: Scientists May Have Found Us A New Planet To Live On

Don’t forget your toothbrush (and something to read, because the commute will be long).

ABC News reports a team of international scientists have spied a new planet off in the distance, orbiting Proxima Centauri, which is approximately four light-years from our solar system.

The newly-named Proxima b is an exoplanet located in the “Goldilocks Zone”, which is the space in, well, space that scientists say is not too hot and not too cold. (Though, it should be noted, the temperature on the surface would still be around -40C.)

At that temperature, the possibility of liquid water being found on its surface exists. Meaning: Proxima b could have the conditions to harbour life.

"There's no reason to know whether or not there is life there, but the fact that the planet exists and is in the zone where liquid water might exist on the surface is very exciting,” Professor Tim Bedding of the University of Sydney told the ABC.

The fact that it’s closer than Wolf 1061c - the next most likely candidate for a habitable exoplanet – makes its existence even more exciting. (Wolf 1061c is 14 light years away; Proxima b is just a short, seven million kilometres away from Proxima Centauri.)

"Astronomically speaking this planet is on our doorstep,” Professor Bedding added.

It's not all good news, however. It seems that only half of the exoplanet ever catches the rays of Proxima Centauri. Hence: night time, all the time. Also, given our current capabilities, it would take a probe 70,000 years to reach Proxima b.

Good enough for us! Meet y’all at Proxima b! (Though, is it too late to rename it Planet McPlanety Face?)

Photo: DreamWorks.