A nearby exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of a star just 4.2 light-years from Earth may be home to a vast ocean, boosting its chances of supporting life. Since its discovery, questions about the conditions at the surface of Proxima b have been swirling; the planet's mass is just about 1.3 times that of Earth's, and the red dwarf star it circles is similar in age to our sun.

SpaceX launched its first set of 60 satellites last month. Now the International Astronomical Union has weighed in on the issue and underlined the potential problems to science that satellite launches could cause due to light pollution and interference with telescope and radio signals.