What is the name of the exoplanet discovered in 2016 orbiting Proxima Centauri?

The exoplanet discovered in 2016 orbiting Proxima Centauri is Proxima Centauri b. Its discovery was announced on 24 August 2016 by the Pale Red Dot campaign, led by astronomer Guillem Anglada-Escudé. Researchers detected the planet through the slight Doppler wobble its gravity produces in its host star's motion.

Proxima Centauri b is especially significant because Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to the Sun, about 4.2 light-years away. The planet completes an orbit in roughly 11.2 Earth days and travels within the star's habitable zone, where temperatures could theoretically allow liquid water under suitable atmospheric conditions.

That location does not prove the planet is habitable. Proxima Centauri is an active red dwarf that produces powerful flares, which may erode or strip away an atmosphere. Scientists also do not yet know the planet's precise radius, composition, atmosphere, or surface conditions. A common mix-up is treating the habitable zone as evidence of life; it only describes a region with potentially suitable temperatures.