What is the nearest rocky exoplanet?
The nearest rocky exoplanet is Proxima Cen b, 4.2 ly from Earth and 1.02 times Earth's radius: the closest solid ground beyond our own solar system. Everything about Proxima Cen b →
| # | World | Distance | Radius |
|---|---|---|---|
| ★ 1 | Proxima Cen b | 4.2 ly | 1.02× Earth |
| 2 | Proxima Cen d | 4.2 ly | 0.69× Earth |
| 3 | Barnard b | 6.0 ly | 0.72× Earth |
| 4 | Barnard c | 6.0 ly | 0.74× Earth |
| 5 | Barnard d | 6.0 ly | 0.69× Earth |
| 6 | Barnard e | 6.0 ly | 0.64× Earth |
| 7 | GJ 887 e | 10.7 ly | 1.12× Earth |
| 8 | Ross 128 b | 11.0 ly | 1.11× Earth |
| 9 | Gl 725 A b | 11.5 ly | 1.48× Earth |
| 10 | GJ 1061 b | 12.0 ly | 1.04× Earth |
| 11 | GJ 1061 c | 12.0 ly | 1.19× Earth |
| 12 | GJ 1061 d | 12.0 ly | 1.16× Earth |
| 13 | YZ Cet b | 12.1 ly | 0.91× Earth |
| 14 | YZ Cet c | 12.1 ly | 1.05× Earth |
| 15 | YZ Cet d | 12.1 ly | 1.03× Earth |
| 16 | Teegarden's Star b | 12.5 ly | 1.05× Earth |
| 17 | Teegarden's Star c | 12.5 ly | 1.02× Earth |
| 18 | Teegarden's Star d | 12.5 ly | 0.95× Earth |
| 19 | Wolf 1061 b | 14.0 ly | 1.21× Earth |
| 20 | Wolf 1061 c | 14.0 ly | 1.66× Earth |
| 21 | GJ 1002 b | 15.8 ly | 1.03× Earth |
| 22 | GJ 1002 c | 15.8 ly | 1.10× Earth |
| 23 | GJ 3323 b | 17.5 ly | 1.23× Earth |
| 24 | GJ 3323 c | 17.5 ly | 1.32× Earth |
| 25 | GJ 411 b | 18.5 ly | 1.45× Earth |
Showing the top 25 of 1,338 that qualify.
A world is classed as rocky here when its radius is small enough that it cannot be holding a thick envelope of hydrogen: below about 1.6 Earth radii, worlds are overwhelmingly dense and solid, and above about 2 they are almost all puffy. The classification comes from size rather than from a direct look at the surface, because nobody has seen the surface of any planet on this table.
The nearest ones are all around red dwarfs, and that is not a coincidence: small, cool stars are the most common kind in the neighbourhood, and a small star makes a small planet easier to detect. Distances are measured parallax distances to the host star. What could unseat this record: a planet found around one of the handful of still-unsurveyed stars closer than the current holder.
What is the nearest rocky exoplanet?
The nearest rocky exoplanet is Proxima Cen b, 4.2 ly from Earth and 1.02 times Earth's radius: the closest solid ground beyond our own solar system.
How far away is the closest rocky planet?
Proxima Cen b lies 4.2 ly away. Light from it takes that many years to reach us, and the fastest object humans have ever launched would need tens of thousands of years to make the trip.
How do we know a planet is rocky if we cannot see it?
From its size, and where a mass is available, from its density. A planet under about 1.6 Earth radii cannot hold onto a thick hydrogen atmosphere, so it is almost certainly rock and iron. Where both a mass and a radius are measured, the density confirms it directly.
Could we visit the nearest rocky planet?
Not with anything that exists. At the speed of the Parker Solar Probe, the fastest craft ever built, the nearest of these worlds is a journey of several thousand years. Every serious proposal for reaching one involves sending grams, not people.
Keep exploring: all records · every rocky world · the nearest planetary systems