James Webb Captures Oxygen Signature on Proxima Centauri b - r/space

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope detected an oxygen-containing atmosphere on Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet to Earth, in a r/space thread that amassed 71,000 upvotes—18% higher than the average for a top-five space discovery post in 2026. Three research paper authors hosted a six-hour AMA, answering questions in a pinned thread, while Carl Sagan quotes flooded the comments, with the top note referencing his death exactly 30 years before the announcement. This oxygen signature, the first ever for a potentially habitable exoplanet, sparked a 24-hour trending period on Reddit, outpacing the #4 Google post by 7,000 upvotes.