This artist's concept shows the rocky super-Earth Proxima b, which orbits in Proxima Centauri's habitable zone. Some astronomers have noted the extreme unlikelihood that the nearest civilization would also inhabit the closest planetary system. But Jasom Wright points out that one or more advanced civilizations could have set up a galactic communication network, with Proxima as the closest node to Earth for relaying messages.
ESO/M. Kornmesser