“Proxima is our closest neighbor in an immense universe. How could we not be charmed by it?”
Well, the planet may or may not exist (the confirmation data won’t be publicly available for another couple years).
And it is most likely not inhabitable — despite being dubbed a “Super-Earth” (which really only refers to size and not whether it’s “Earth-like” or not).
Still, regardless of these facts, the most important part of this article in Scientific American is the science:
“We tried different tools to prove ourselves wrong, but we failed. However, we have to keep the doors open to all possible doubt and skepticism.”
Yes, the astronomers tried to prove their own discovery was a mistake. That’s how it works, folks. Challenge your assumptions, not jump to conclusions.
Now contrast that to the CNN Headline purportedly about the same discovery:
“Researchers have traced a second planetary signal to the nearby Proxima Centauri star. They believe it belongs to a super-Earth.”
The astronomers did NOT say they “believe” there is another planet. They say that Proxima c may exist but still needs to be confirmed with more convincing evidence.
Evidence, not beliefs. Big difference.
Most of the CNN article consists of videos and links to other articles with more videos and links to other articles…oh, and ads, too. Lots of ads.
Science. It’s not sexy and actually requires reading (and thinking). But it works.
