Astronomers have found evidence of a third planet around the closest star to the sun, reinforcing the idea that planets are common around the stars of the galaxy, even some of its smallest.

And while the newly found planet is less than half the size of Earth and probably too hot to be inhabited, there’s still a chance there could be life around Proxima Centauri, Earth’s nearest galactic neighbor.

“The planet is not within the star’s habitable zone — it’s orbiting too close,” said astronomer João Faria, the lead author of a study published this month in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics that details the discovery. “So it’s unlikely that water can be in a liquid state and that the conditions are right for life.”

In fact, the new planet is so close — about a tenth of the distance between the sun and Mercury — that it takes just five days to complete an orbit around its star.

It’s also likely to be “tidally locked,” as the moon is to Earth, with one face always pointing toward Proxima Centauri. That could cause extremes of temperature and limits the likelihood that the planet has a stable atmosphere, Faria said.

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