In this Earth Day episode, we will be journeying to the Alpha Centauri star system to look at the multitude of planets present in the lore of James Cameron's Avatar.

00:00 - Intro
00:22 - Canonical Description
00:44 - Sentient Population
01:07 - Planetary Examination
03:53 - Star System Examination
06:35 - Parent Planet: Polyphemus
07:40 - Planetary Anomaly 01: Atmospheric Composition
10:51 - Planetary Anomaly 02: Fanciful Geology
11:51 - Planetary Anomaly 03: Small Parent Planet
12:50 - Planetary Anomaly 04: Blue Gas Giant
14:06 - Point Of Interest 01: Ringless Gas Giant
15:16 - Planetary Anomaly 05: Real-world Exoplanet System*
17:06 - Conclusion

In February of 2021, an exoplanet candidate was detected around Alpha Centauri A. If confirmed, it would lie at about 1.1 AU from its parent star with a period of approximately 1 year. It is estimated to be a jovian planet with a mass between 15 and 50 Earth masses.

In June of 2020, Proxima Centauri c was confirmed using Hubble astrometry data and its properties refined. Current data suggests it has a mass of approximately 7 Earth masses and an effective temperature of -234º C. It orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance of 1.489 AU with an eccentricity of 0.04 and a high inclination of 133º, giving it an orbital period of approximately 5.3 years. Infrared imaging of the exoplanet suggests that it may possess a vast ring system.

In May of 2020, a team of astronomers announced that using data from ESPRESSO, they detected a possible third planet with an orbital period of 5.15 days. If this is a planet, the astronomers estimate its mass to be no less than 0.29 Earth masses. If this exoplanet is confirmed, it would be the innermost planet in the star system, orbiting at a distance of about 0.03 AU.