When people hear words such as a “second world” or Super-Earth, they might not have the same understanding as an astronomer. The second world, for us living on Earth, might refer to an alien planet that has the same conditions as the Earth.
A Super-Earth might sound more like a metaphor describing a planet more prominent than our world. But it isn’t. When the astronomers say Super-Earth they just mean a planet with a higher mass than that of Earth’s — higher than Earth’s and lower than giants such as Neptune or Uranus. Nothing more. It has nothing to do with habitability or any conditions at all.
Also, when it comes to naming a planet a second world it means… well, another world than ours. Nothing to do with the meaning of the expression as we know it.
Keeping that in mind, astronomers safely said that a Super-Earth exoplanet might be orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Safe means without getting our hopes high in thinking that we are on the way to find life or at least habitable conditions out there.
Super-Earth Exoplanet Might Orbit Proxima Centauri
It just means that the astronomers might have found an explanation regarding ALMA’s notifications on an unidentified source of light range signals coming from Proxima Centauri.
ALMA is the acronym for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and it is an astronomical interferometer with residence in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
A while ago, ALMA revealed that there is something out of the ordinary going on around Proxima Centauri. After doing some research, Mario Damasso, a Postdoctoral Researcher at INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, came with the supposition that the signals caught by ALMA are coming from a world that orbits low-mass Proxima every 5,2 years.
Damasso also postulated that this Super-Earth might be an exoplanet or light from another galaxy, or even an unconnected sensation, whatever that means astronomical parameters.
