https://phys.org/news/2021-11-worlds-do ... alpha.html
by University of Sydney
Could life exist around our nearest stellar neighbors? Led by the University of Sydney and supported by the Breakthrough Initiatives, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Saber Astronautics, this project aims to find out.
A mission to discover new planets potentially capable of sustaining life around Earth's nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, was announced today.
The proposed telescope project will look for planets in the 'Goldilocks' zone around the star system just four light years away, where temperatures could allow for liquid surface water on rocky planets.
Work on the project began in April of this year. Scientists from the University of Sydney, in partnership with the Breakthrough Initiatives in California, Saber Astronautics in Australia and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have named the project TOLIMAN, the Arabic-derived name for Alpha Centauri from antiquity.
"Our nearest stellar neighbors—the Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri systems—are turning out to be extraordinarily interesting," said Dr. Pete Worden, Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. "The TOLIMAN mission will be a huge step towards finding out if planets capable of supporting life exist there."