It is 4.2 light-years away from Earth.
In the Proxima Centauri system, within the habitable zone, a planet named Proxima Centauri b orbits a red dwarf star "rapidly".
Proxima Centauri b has an orbital period of only 11.2 Earth days and is extremely close to a red dwarf star!
The red dwarf star is called Proxima Centauri. It has a mass 0.123 times that of the Sun and a luminosity of only 1.55% of the Sun.
Thanks to this, Proxima Centauri b remains within Proxima Centauri's habitable zone.
The camera zooms in.
The dense atmosphere and ozone layer, several times larger than Earth's, blocked high-energy rays from Proxima Centauri, laying a solid foundation for the emergence of life.
On the flat ground, countless dark black, disc-shaped man-made structures stand.
This structure is also designed to absorb as much high-energy radiation as possible from stars, thus protecting fragile biological organisms.
As the camera zoomed in again, a smart creature with three pairs of narrow visual organs and thick limbs sat in a chair, silently watching the monitor in front of it.
In the Proxima Centauri civilization, he was named Atocha, meaning "the recipient of the letter."
His name gave him a mission.
Therefore, ever since he was born and could remember things, his activities have been confined to this empty building.
His task was simple: to monitor information from the various detectors.
Atocha supported its thinking organs with its strong forelimbs, and its three pairs of narrow visual organs narrowed into an almost invisible slit.
"call……"
He slowly opened his breathing hole and exhaled a thick cloud of stale air.
Just like when I first entered this building 100 years ago.
(For ease of understanding, all times are Earth time.)
Nothing has changed.
The monitor in front of me has been replaced several times, but it still looks the same.
I heard from the older generation that their civilization had stagnated for hundreds of years.
And the purpose of launching so many probes... is actually ridiculous, it's to search for extraterrestrial civilizations!
Thinking of this, a slight wrinkle appeared at the top of Atocha's thought organ, which in their culture has a mocking meaning.
It's laughable that the upper class would place their hopes for the development of civilization on the help of other civilizations!
They actually thought they could detect intelligent life in the surrounding star systems with a few detectors that could only travel at a maximum speed of one-tenth the speed of light!
The result was predictable.
Over a century of effort yielded no results.
Thinking about this, the folds at the top of Atocha's thought organ deepened.
He looked at the dark-colored window to the side.
In the sky, beside a giant fireball, there were two tiny points of light.
Those are two other stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.
Proxima Centauri and these two stars form a triple star system.
However, unlike ordinary triple star systems, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B form a stable binary system, with Proxima Centauri orbiting at a distance of 13,000 astronomical units.
Therefore, the orbital patterns of these three stars are not as chaotic as expected.
Proxima Centauri b was thus able to survive.
Atocha stared at the dim light beside the fireball, his mind racing with a jumble of thoughts.
"Hoo..." Another puff of hot air shot out from his nostrils.
Just as he was about to stand up and rest, a blinding white light shone from a corner of the wall made of monitors in front of him!
White light, the same color as the Proxima Centauri flare, signifies the highest level of alarm and crisis in their culture!
Upon seeing the color that symbolized warning and danger, Atocha froze on the spot.
The three pairs of narrow eyes on his mind organ suddenly widened, and the wrinkles on the top of his mind organ disappeared completely, becoming incredibly smooth!
He quickly swung his thick, short forelimbs and began operating the control panel in front of him.
“A detector from 45 years ago…” Atocha stared blankly at the monitor in front of him, muttering to himself.
He quickly retrieved the information transmitted by the detector.
4.22 light-years!
So close!
When he saw the objects in the video footage, his mental organs trembled involuntarily.
In the footage, Voyager 2 drifts silently through the boundless universe.
This is a man-made object!
The following scene caused his mental organs to tremble even more violently.
A blue planet and a silvery-white satellite.
The probe quietly landed on the silvery-white satellite.
High-precision cameras have captured images of intelligent life on the blue planet.
So ugly.
Atocha looked at the image in front of him and pursed his lips.
They only have one pair of eyes!
Their limbs are so weak, I don't know how they live...
Unbelievable!
Atocha muttered to himself as he watched the images on the monitor.
The video footage abruptly ended.
Atocha knew that the probe had returned to base.
He suddenly stood up and walked towards the communication equipment next to him.
He needs to report this incident to his superiors.
...
When it comes to extraterrestrial civilizations, the efficiency of those in power suddenly increases dramatically.
The moment Atocha finished his report and put down the communication device, the device beeped.
"..."
Atocha silently picked up the communication device and placed it next to his hearing.
Are you sure?
"...Okay, I understand."
After putting down the communication equipment, Atocha's breathing holes opened and closed, and puffs of hot air gushed out from them.
People in higher positions really know how to talk.
He only confirmed one sentence, and he got a good scolding.
Atocha's thought organs rippled at the top as he silently walked toward the control panel beside him.
There was nothing he could do; he was just a lowly mail recipient. If one Atocha was gone, there would be thousands upon thousands more to take his place.
Thinking this, the wrinkles at the top of Atocha's thought organs decreased significantly.
Just do as the higher-ups say!
As he thought about it, he pressed a button on the console with a blank expression.
The electromagnetic wave signal crossed the dense atmosphere and reached a man-made device outside the atmosphere.
The next second, the signal, amplified by the equipment, sped off towards the solar system!
…………
Let's organize the timeline.
In 1980, the Proxima Centauri b probe was launched.
In 2025, as Voyager Earth leaves the solar system, a probe will arrive in the solar system, conduct its exploration, and then send out signals.
In 2030, Proxima Centauri b will receive a signal from the detector and will emit the same signal in the same year.
In 2034, Earth will receive a signal from Proxima Centauri.
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