Science fiction writers and filmmakers never cease to amaze us with pictures of humanity, who conquered the Universe, settling in all its ends. Scientists began to wonder if this was possible. Is such an interplanetary travel possible? But the conclusion turned out to be very vague.
Unfortunately, we still need to overcome too many technical problems - for example, the laws of physics, as we imagine them, before starting to colonize new worlds outside the Earth and our galaxy.
The first question is - where are we going if the opportunity arises? There are more stars in the Universe than there is sand on Earth - about 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and billions of them are estimated to have between one and three planets that are in the "not too hot and not too cold" zone.
Since we're just getting started, the best contender so far is our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, 4.37 light-years away. More recently, scientists have discovered an Earth-sized planet orbiting a red dwarf Alpha Centauri - Proxima Centauri. This planet is called Proxima Centauri b. What really attracts scientists and exoplanet hunters is the right temperature for liquid water, which is a major factor for habitability.
But there was also a minus - we do not know if there is an atmosphere. And given its proximity to Proxima Centauri - even closer than Mercury to the Sun - it could be more likely to be exposed to dangerous solar flares and radiation. In addition, the type of its rotation is synchronous, that is, this planet is constantly facing its star with one and the same side. This is strikingly different from our concept of day and night.