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Astronomers have not photographed a planet circling Proxima Centauri. They infer the planets from the star’s own motion: a planet’s gravity makes Proxima wobble around the system’s center of mass, shifting the star’s spectral lines back and forth. Repeated timing, a stable period and a signal that survives tests against stellar activity identify an orbital companion.
Proxima b and Proxima d were detected with precision radial-velocity spectroscopy, using HARPS and ESPRESSO. A transit—a periodic dip in brightness when a planet crosses the star—would reveal different information, but no confirmed transit is established for either planet in the published results described here. Proxima c remains a candidate or debated long-period signal rather than a detection on the same footing as b and d.
What astronomers actually measure
The star’s reflex motion
Proxima Centauri and any orbiting planet move around a shared center of mass. Because the star is vastly more massive, its path is a tiny version of the planet’s orbit, but it is not perfectly stationary. As Proxima moves toward Earth, its absorption lines shift slightly toward shorter, bluer wavelengths. As it moves away, the lines shift toward longer, redder wavelengths. This Doppler shift is the radial-velocity signal.
A spectrograph records the star’s spectrum at high resolution. Software compares the positions of many spectral lines with a reference and converts their displacement into the star’s velocity along our line of sight. Individual measurements are small and noisy; a planet is indicated by a coherent pattern that repeats at the same period and with a consistent amplitude over many observations.
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Why a repeating pattern matters
One unusual velocity measurement proves nothing. Astronomers look for a cycle that can be fitted by an orbital model and that remains present when the data are divided into observing seasons or collected with another instrument. The period gives the orbital timescale. The velocity amplitude, combined with the star’s mass and the period, gives a companion’s minimum mass.
Radial velocity normally yields m sin i, where i is the orbital inclination. The true mass is larger than or equal to that value unless the orbit’s tilt is measured independently. This is why catalog values based on spectroscopy are described as minimum masses rather than guaranteed physical masses.
How the radial-velocity detection is built
- Obtain a long time series. Astronomers repeatedly point a high-resolution spectrograph at Proxima and record spectra over many nights. A time series is essential because a short run can confuse random variation with an orbit.
- Measure line shifts. The displacement of numerous absorption features is combined into a radial-velocity measurement for each exposure. The result is a velocity-versus-time data set, not an image of the planet.
- Search for periodicity. Period-search algorithms and orbital fits test whether the velocities contain a stable cycle. A plausible planet must explain the phase and amplitude of the signal across the full data set.
- Estimate the minimum mass. The fitted period and amplitude, together with the known properties of Proxima, produce an m sin i estimate. Without an inclination, the value cannot by itself specify the planet’s exact mass.
- Check stellar activity. Proxima is an active flare star. Flares, changing surface regions and other line-profile changes can shift measured velocities or create apparent periods. Astronomers compare the velocity signal with brightness measurements, flare times and activity indicators.
- Repeat with an independent or more precise instrument. A signal that remains in observations from a different spectrograph is less likely to be an artifact of one instrument or reduction procedure. ESPRESSO supplied a higher-precision check for the Proxima system after earlier HARPS work.
How Proxima b was detected
The 2016 HARPS campaign
The discovery campaign announced in 2016 used the HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory’s 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla. The team measured Proxima’s spectrum repeatedly and combined the velocity data with monitoring of the star’s brightness. The combination was important because Proxima’s activity can imitate a planetary signal.
ESO reported that flare-contaminated measurements were removed from the final analysis: “Radial velocity data taken when the star was flaring were excluded from the final analysis.” This is a data-quality decision, not an assumption that every variation is planetary. By rejecting observations taken during identified flares and testing activity indicators, the team isolated a persistent short-period signal.
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What the b signal means
NASA’s 2018 catalog entry lists Proxima b at 1.07 Earth masses with an 11.2-day orbital period and identifies radial velocity as the discovery method. The mass is a minimum-mass-style result unless the orbit’s inclination is known. The 11.2-day repetition is the time between successive cycles of the star’s measured reflex motion, not a direct measurement of a photographed planet.
The discovery date and catalog date are different facts: the result was announced in 2016, while the cited NASA catalog entry is from 2018. A later catalog date does not mean the planet was newly found then.
How Proxima d was found
A much smaller signal
Follow-up observations with ESPRESSO, the high-stability spectrograph on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, revealed a second, weaker periodic variation. ESO’s 2022 account describes Proxima d as roughly one quarter of Earth’s mass with an orbit of about five days. NASA’s current catalog lists 0.26 Earth masses, a 5.1-day period, radial velocity as the discovery method and a 2025 discovery date.
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The different dates describe different milestones: ESO reported the result in 2022, while the catalog’s discovery-date field is 2025. The numerical period and mass should be carried with their catalog or source date rather than presented as timeless measurements.
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Why confirmation required extra observations
The d signal was close to the level at which changes intrinsic to Proxima could look planetary. ESO stated: “As the signal was so weak, the team had to conduct follow-up observations with ESPRESSO to confirm that it was due to a planet, and not simply a result of changes in the star itself.” In practice, the team collected additional ESPRESSO spectra and checked whether the period appeared in indicators of stellar activity. Agreement with a planetary orbital model, rather than a flare or line-shape change, supported the interpretation.
What is known about Proxima c
Proxima c is not as secure as b and d. The NASA Exoplanet Archive overview contains a radial-velocity entry with a period of approximately 1,900 days. That is a far longer cycle than the 11.2-day and 5.1-day signals, so confirming it requires observations spanning many years and careful separation from slow instrumental or stellar trends.
An ESO-hosted science paper reports that the available ESPRESSO data did not detect Proxima c and says that continued spectroscopy or astrometry from Gaia may be needed to characterize the proposed signal. For readers, the accurate description is “candidate” or “debated long-period signal,” not a confirmed planet equivalent to b and d. The archive entry was accessed in 2026; its presence in a catalog does not remove the published qualification about its uncertain status.
Radial velocity versus transit photometry
Transit photometry measures a different physical effect. NASA defines a transit as the event “When a planet passes directly between an observer and the star it orbits, it blocks some of that starlight.” A planet crossing the stellar disk produces a repeating dip in brightness.
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| Aspect | Radial velocity | Transit photometry |
|---|---|---|
| Signal measured | Periodic Doppler shifts in stellar spectral lines as the star moves toward and away from Earth | Periodic decreases in the star’s measured brightness when a planet crosses the disk |
| Primary information | Orbital period and a minimum mass, m sin i | Orbital period, planet radius relative to the star and, for a detected transit, an edge-on geometry |
| Geometric bias | Can detect systems over many inclinations, although the inferred mass depends on inclination | Requires the orbit to be aligned closely enough for the planet to cross the visible star |
| Main noise concern for Proxima | Flares and other stellar activity that alter line positions or profiles | Intrinsic brightness variability and flares that can imitate or obscure a shallow dip |
A confirmed transit combined with a radial-velocity mass would allow a density estimate and would remove much of the inclination ambiguity. The published Proxima detections discussed here, however, are radial-velocity results; no confirmed transit for Proxima b or d is established in the cited material. There is therefore no reported transit depth or radius to substitute for the spectroscopic mass estimates.
Why stellar flares make Proxima unusually difficult
Proxima is a magnetically active red dwarf. A flare can change the star’s brightness and distort or shift spectral lines. If observations taken during such events are included without modeling, the resulting velocities may show an apparent periodicity that has nothing to do with an orbit. Activity can also evolve on timescales that overlap a proposed planetary period.
That is why the observing workflow uses simultaneous or near-simultaneous photometric monitoring, flare flags and spectral diagnostics that describe line shape rather than only line position. A planetary reflex motion should be present in the velocity data without matching the behavior expected from an activity indicator. Removing measurements obtained during identified flares, as in the b analysis, reduces one obvious source of contamination but does not eliminate the need for broader statistical checks.
What the instruments contribute
HARPS
HARPS provided the high-resolution, precision spectroscopy used in the 2016 b discovery campaign at ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope in La Silla. Its role was to measure tiny, repeatable Doppler shifts over many observations while the team tracked Proxima’s changing brightness.
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ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO is a high-stability spectrograph on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Its greater stability and precision enabled follow-up of the weaker d signal and supplied an independent check on signals first identified in earlier data. For a star as active as Proxima, instrument stability and repeated observations are both necessary: precision cannot be replaced by a single exceptionally good exposure.
These facilities are specialized astronomical instruments. A normal backyard telescope can show Proxima as a point of light under suitable conditions, but it cannot reproduce the spectral resolution, calibration stability or long-term activity monitoring used to detect the reported planets.
What would strengthen or overturn a claimed planet
- More cycles in time. Repeated periods, especially for a roughly 1,900-day candidate, make it possible to distinguish an orbit from a one-off trend.
- Independent instrumentation. Recovery with a second spectrograph, or with a substantially more precise instrument, tests whether the signal belongs to the star or to a particular instrument.
- Activity diagnostics. The proposed period should not be explained more naturally by flares, brightness changes or spectral-line shape variations.
- Consistent orbital modeling. The fitted period, phase and amplitude should describe the data across the full observing baseline rather than only a selected subset.
- Geometric confirmation. A transit would provide a radius and orbital inclination. No such confirmed transit is part of the evidence summarized for Proxima b or d.
- Astrometric evidence for long periods. For Proxima c, measurements of the star’s position on the sky, including possible Gaia astrometry, could test the proposed long-period motion independently of spectroscopy.
How to read the Proxima planet labels
| Object | Reported mass | Reported period | Detection method | Status and source timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proxima b | 1.07 Earth masses | 11.2 days | Radial velocity | Discovery announced in 2016; values cited from NASA’s 2018 catalog entry |
| Proxima d | 0.26 Earth masses | 5.1 days | Radial velocity | ESO report in 2022; NASA catalog lists a 2025 discovery date |
| Proxima c | Not securely established in the cited material | Approximately 1,900 days in the NASA Exoplanet Archive entry | Proposed radial-velocity signal | Candidate or debated; ESO-hosted analysis says available ESPRESSO data did not detect it and points to continued spectroscopy or Gaia astrometry |
The direct answer
Astronomers know that Proxima b and d are orbiting candidates because Proxima’s spectrum repeats the Doppler signature expected from the star’s gravitational reflex motion, with periods and amplitudes that survive flare filtering, activity checks and follow-up spectroscopy. They did not discover these planets by seeing reflected light, and the cited evidence does not establish a transit. Proxima c has a much longer, less secure signal that still requires independent confirmation.
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