# New planet discovered less than 25 trillion miles away! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194 "2016-09-06T16:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/1 "2016-09-06T16:45:59Z")
[A planet has been discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/earth-mass-planet-proxima-centauri-habitable-space-science/), in an orbit warm enough for liquid water. I was especially intrigued by > [@](#): > > Even before today’s announcement, Breakthrough Starshot had announced its plan to send tiny spacecraft to the Alpha Centauri system later this century… It will take more than 20 years for a spacecraft traveling at a monstrous 20 percent of the speed of light to reach Proxima Centauri, and another 4.24 years for any data to arrive back on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/2 "2016-09-06T16:51:35Z")
I think there was already a thread on this some time ago. [Here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802171&highlight=proxima) ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/3 "2016-09-06T17:54:40Z")
Awesome! I’ll just gas up the Hyundai and we can get going! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/4 "2016-09-06T17:57:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I think there was already a thread on this some time ago. > > [Here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802171&highlight=proxima) Ooops! I did Google site:straightdope.com but missed that. Mods, please close this thread. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/5 "2016-09-06T18:06:09Z")
I reported it for a merge. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/6 "2016-09-06T18:18:05Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Awesome! I’ll just gas up the Hyundai and we can get going! You should use the bathroom before getting on the road. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/7 "2016-09-06T18:23:08Z")
I can cut the trip down to less than four years. I should be able to go by the year 2061. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/8 "2016-09-06T18:48:15Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You should use the bathroom before getting on the road. _Stuckey’s_ will be few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-less-than-25-trillion-miles-away/765194/9 "2016-09-06T19:03:03Z")
I’m going to go ahead and shut this one down given the existence of the other thread linked to in Post #2.