Here’s some positive prophetic news for once. “How close are our nearest extraterrestrial neighbors? They might be right next door, say astronomers. A newly discovered exoplanet candidate, dubbed Proxima b, is just 4.25 light-years from Earth, orbiting our nearest stellar neighbor” Proxima Centauri. “And it might be habitable, because it is quite earth-like, say astronomers.” Of all the stars in the sky, Proxima Centauri is the star closest to Earth, other than the sun.
Whether there is life elsewhere in the universe is, perhaps, one of the oldest questions of mankind. Though it is answered in the Bible, most people don’t seem to believe it. Astronomers now have some tantalizing data about Proxima b that could verify the Bible. Speaking of the leaders of other planets, the scripture says, in Job 1:6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD…”
Proxima b is about 1.3 times the mass of our planet and orbits its parent star within a range that would make it not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface.
Unlike Earth, Proxima b orbits remarkably close to its host star, Proxima Centauri. Only 4.4 million miles separate the two, making Proxima b more than 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to our sun. At such a distance Earth would be hot, hot, hot, but as a red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri is a much cooler and smaller star than our sun. And with such a tight orbit, Proxima b takes just 11.2 days to revolve around its star.
When God created other worlds, he could well have provided them with different life-sustaining formulas, like a smaller star (sun) and a tighter orbit than earth. These are the conditions of Proxima b.
“‘This means that the potentially habitable planet is practically on our cosmic doorstep.’” says Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University.
Proxima b sits within the habitable zone of its host star – an enticing clue that it could indeed host life. But it takes a lot more than temperatures conducive to liquid water to make a planet habitable. “Our job now is to try to observe this planet to see what its atmosphere is like and that will tell us more about whether or not it’s habitable,” says Zachory Berta-Thompson, an exoplanet astronomer at the University of Colorado.
Astronomers only have a tiny glimpse of the conditions of Proxima b. And there is much that is unknown. But since astronomers now have tools by which to study planets outside our solar system, astronomers will actively study Proxima b to determine if it has an atmosphere and what its components are, among other conditions.
One interesting idea is that Proxima b protects itself from UV light bombardment, which would reduce its livability to human-like beings, through mechanisms that downshift high-energy radiation to a wavelength that is harmless. On Earth, iridescent coral does this very thing, which causes it to react with its iridescent color. Imagine a whole planet bursting into colorful light in the galactic sky periodically as its sun hits its surface with flares.
“It’s only human to wonder about traveling there some day,” says Dr. Charbonneau. But for now, “our telescopes are our spaceships, allowing us to know the conditions on distant worlds without the benefit of a direct visit.”
Charbonneau says he’s very excited about this discovery, but not surprised. That’s because his research suggests that 1 in every 4 red dwarf stars host an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone. Planets like Proxima b are probably pretty common, and it’s not surprising to find one orbiting our nearest neighboring star.
“We don’t know yet whether there’s life out there in the universe,” Berta-Thompson says, “but we’re finally getting to know our stellar neighbors in the galaxy and learning really cool things about them.” And although Proxima b might not check all the boxes for habitability as we know it on Earth, we may yet find an extreme form of life there.
Scientists are often atheist. When they find an amazing factoid or two they think they have really found something special. But in reality, they have only documented, in a miniscule way, what God said in his ancient word about life in the universe.
“The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely. They bore the express image of Jesus, and their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom and happiness of the place.
“I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely than those on the earth. The reply was, “We have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth.” Then I saw two trees, one looked much like the tree of life in the city. The fruit of both looked beautiful, but of one they could not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of one. Then my attending angel said to me, “None in this place have tasted of the forbidden tree; but if they should eat, they would fall.”
“I begged of my attending angel to let me remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark world again. Then the angel said, “You must go back, and if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God.” Maranatha, page 368