Possibly—but Webb cannot declare Proxima b habitable from its location alone. The planet orbits within Proxima Centauri’s habitable zone, where surface liquid water could be possible under suitable conditions. Webb could help researchers constrain whether the planet has an atmosphere and how that atmosphere moves heat, but those measurements would not by themselves prove that liquid water—or life—exists there.
What would Webb need to find out?
Proxima b is a planet orbiting the nearby low-mass star Proxima Centauri. Calling its orbit part of the habitable zone describes a possibility: at the right distance from its star, a planet could have conditions that allow liquid water on its surface. It does not establish that the planet has water, an atmosphere, or a climate suitable for life.
Webb’s relevant role would be indirect. As an infrared observatory, it can help characterize some planets around small, cool stars by examining light associated with their atmospheres. For Proxima b, researchers have proposed using infrared observations to investigate atmospheric composition and heat transport. Those are important pieces of the habitability question, not a direct test that returns a yes-or-no answer.
How could Webb study Proxima b’s atmosphere?
Look for heat moving around the planet
A 2016 study by Laura Kreidberg and Abraham Loeb modeled thermal phase-curve observations: tracking how the combined infrared signal from the star and planet changes as the planet moves through its orbit. The model examined wavelengths from 5 to 12 microns. Under its stated assumptions, and at photon-limited precision, the proposed observations could distinguish a bare-rock scenario from a modeled atmosphere that redistributes 35% of its heat to the nightside.
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The point is that heat transport can help reveal whether an atmosphere is present and how it behaves. A planet with little or no atmosphere may have a much larger temperature contrast between its day and night sides than one that transports substantial heat. This is a theoretical prospect, not a reported Webb measurement of Proxima b.
Search for clues in infrared wavelengths
A NASA-hosted study of Proxima b’s possible environmental states says observations at wavelengths longer than 10 microns could help characterize heat transport and molecular composition. The 2016 phase-curve study also considered whether a feature near 9.8 microns associated with ozone might be detectable in an Earth-like-atmosphere scenario; its authors said that would require longer integration.
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Neither a proposed ozone feature nor a modeled atmospheric signal is evidence that Webb has detected those things on Proxima b. They describe what researchers might try to measure, conditional on the planet’s atmosphere, the observing conditions, and the model assumptions.
Why being in the habitable zone is not enough
Proxima Centauri is an active, low-mass star, and its high-energy radiation poses a challenge for atmospheric retention. But the outcome depends on more than the star’s current radiation: the planet’s initial water inventory, atmospheric composition, magnetic properties, climate, and history all matter.
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A NASA Technical Reports Server record for a study by Ribas and colleagues reports that Proxima b currently receives extreme-ultraviolet radiation estimated at 30 times Earth’s level and X-rays estimated at 250 times Earth’s. The same study estimated that the planet may have lost less than an Earth-ocean’s worth of hydrogen before reaching the habitable zone, which it places 100–200 million years after formation. Its authors identify the initial water budget as a major uncertainty.
A separate calculation, summarized by NASA in 2017, used an Earth-like atmosphere placed at Proxima b’s orbit as a proxy. Under the described conditions, modeled atmospheric escape could be as much as 10,000 times faster than on Earth. In the model’s most extreme thermosphere and magnetic-field case, an amount equivalent to Earth’s atmosphere could escape in 100 million years; in its lower-temperature, closed-field case, the comparable loss would take 2 billion years. These are conditional model results, not measurements of Proxima b’s atmosphere. NASA’s account also notes that the calculation used average stellar activity and did not include certain variations and magnetic disturbances.
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These studies do not establish a single outcome. They address different quantities and rely on different conditions; neither resolves the planet’s initial water inventory or its actual atmospheric history. The evidence supports uncertainty, not the claim that Proxima b’s atmosphere is certainly gone or that the planet is confirmed habitable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What would count as evidence of life?
Even if Webb or another observatory found a possible biosignature—a signal that could be associated with life—that would not amount to a life detection. NASA’s Webb Mission Team wrote in April 2025: “Finding life elsewhere in the universe also is a process, and detection of a single potential biosignature would not constitute discovery of life.” NASA says the interpretation would require follow-up, multiple converging lines of evidence, independent observations where possible, and atmospheric modeling to test nonbiological explanations.
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The time required to pursue such evidence varies by planet and observing conditions. As an illustration for a different world, NASA reported in 2024 that theoretical work on LHS 1140 b suggested about 10–50 transits, or 40–200 observing hours, for an attempt to detect some potential biosignature gases in a best-case clear, cloud-free atmosphere. Clouds, stellar variability, and water vapor in star spots can complicate that work. Those figures apply to LHS 1140 b, not to Proxima b.
Has Webb already observed Proxima b?
The sources cited here establish general Webb atmospheric-characterization capabilities and historical proposals for studying Proxima b. They do not establish a specific Webb observation, selection, or result for the planet. The Space Telescope Science Institute’s Cycle 6 call material reviewed for this topic is not, by itself, evidence of a Proxima b observation. Accordingly, the supported claim is that Webb could help constrain the question—not that it has already answered it.
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