We are living in the greatest age of planetary discovery since Galileo looked at Jupiter, and that age may be on the verge of delivering one of the most exciting discoveries imaginable: earth-like planet[s] around Alpha Centauri, AKA Rigel Kent or ACen. Just the name Centauri brings on dreamy eyes in the sci-fi and space exploration community alike. At 4.37 light-years away, the three stars making up the Centauri system are by far our closest stellar neighbors. Via reader/writer “F,” planet hunters pouring over data from the most famous star system outside of ours have found strong hints of an earth-sized world, and there could be more: [Read more…]