AWhat changed
Anglada-Escudé and colleagues combined new HARPS radial-velocity observations with earlier HARPS and UVES measurements and reported a coherent approximately 11.2-day Doppler signal around Proxima Centauri. They interpreted the combined signal as a planetary companion and tested stellar-activity indicators alongside the velocity data. In 2020 a separate ESPRESSO campaign recovered the 11.2-day signal in its own radial velocities and combined it with earlier datasets to refine the model parameters.
Scientific scope
Anglada-Escudé and colleagues combined new HARPS radial-velocity observations with earlier HARPS and UVES measurements and reported a coherent approximately 11.2-day Doppler signal around Proxima Centauri. They interpreted the combined signal as a planetary companion and tested stellar-activity indicators alongside the velocity data. In 2020 a separate ESPRESSO campaign recovered the 11.2-day signal in its own radial velocities and combined it with earlier datasets to refine the model parameters. The inferred minimum mass m sin i is about 1.27 Earth masses; the true mass depends on the unknown orbital inclination; the period is 11.186 days in the reported fit. This is a Doppler signal interpreted with a Keplerian model, not a direct measurement of radius or composition. Sparse earlier sampling, stellar-activity models and model-dependent significance matter; the additional longer-period signal remains of uncertain origin in this source. The paper reports no detected transit in the searched photometry. Its 2016 author preprint follows the journal publication; no raw-data replay or exhaustive later assessment is claimed. The 2020 ESPRESSO-only analysis used 63 retained measurements and reports a minimum mass of 1.29 ± 0.13 Earth masses. Its combined ESPRESSO, HARPS and UVES fit reports 1.173 ± 0.086; these are distinct analyses, and the combined fit reuses earlier observations. Its 5.15-day signal was a tentative candidate with uncertain physical origin, not a second confirmed planet in that source. The 2020 paper has a separate, partially listed collaboration. An independent observing campaign does not imply disjoint personnel or a separate reanalysis of earlier raw data.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The inferred minimum mass m sin i is about 1.27 Earth masses; the true mass depends on the unknown orbital inclination; the period is 11.186 days in the reported fit. This is a Doppler signal interpreted with a Keplerian model, not a direct measurement of radius or composition. Sparse earlier sampling, stellar-activity models and model-dependent significance matter; the additional longer-period signal remains of uncertain origin in this source. The paper reports no detected transit in the searched photometry. Its 2016 author preprint follows the journal publication; no raw-data replay or exhaustive later assessment is claimed. The 2020 ESPRESSO-only analysis used 63 retained measurements and reports a minimum mass of 1.29 ± 0.13 Earth masses. Its combined ESPRESSO, HARPS and UVES fit reports 1.173 ± 0.086; these are distinct analyses, and the combined fit reuses earlier observations. Its 5.15-day signal was a tentative candidate with uncertain physical origin, not a second confirmed planet in that source. The 2020 paper has a separate, partially listed collaboration. An independent observing campaign does not imply disjoint personnel or a separate reanalysis of earlier raw data.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: These are the listed authors of the cited contribution sources. Paper authorship does not quantify individual effort. An incomplete list is explicitly marked; same names are not automatically merged.
- A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri
- Revisiting Proxima with ESPRESSO
Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-28.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.
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