Earth Versus Proxima Centauri b Rotation Rates

Proxima b as a water planet with no land and no ocean circulation. Notice the large ocean on Proxima b's starside. Promixa b as a water planet with ocean circulation, but no land. Notice the oddly shaped exposed ocean all around the planet. If the Earth were in Proxima b's location and the same distance from Proxima b's star and the Pacific Ocean was starside, things might look something like this. If the Earth were in Proxima b's location and had its star and was also tidally locked with Africa on the starside, things might look something like this. Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to Earth. It is only four light years away. NASA scientists studying this exoplanet have applied Earth system science models to generate several different scenarios of what Proxima Centauri b may actually be like. Here are four of those scenarios. Related pages

This data visualization compares the relative distances and speeds of Proxima B's orbit to the Earth's orbit. Proxima B rapidly orbits its sun every 11.2 days. Earth's orbit around the sun takes 365 days to complete. Proxima B's orbit around its star takes 11.2 Earth days to complete. Background image comparing the relative sizes of our Sun to Proxima B's star. Proxima Centauri's radius is approximately 7 times smaller than our Sun's radius. Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to Earth. It is only four light years away. It's star is a red dwarf that is much smaller than our Sun. However, it is much closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun. It also orbits around it's star at a much faster rate than Earth. Related pages

This animation shows where Proxima Centauri B can be located in the Southern sky. It starts with a view of Earth and the camera moves to a view of the Southern sky, revealing the star constellations. Proxima Centauri is then highlighted and we quickly fly to it. Eventually, the planet unwraps into a flat plane showing a potential planetary surface without clouds. Proxima B, the nearest exoplanet to Earth (only four light years away), is located in the Southern sky just south of Centaurus and left of the Southern Cross. Related pages