The Sun is our nearest star – it’s a main-sequence star of spectral type G2V and is located about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the Earth.
It’s not the only closest star – there is also a set of three stars known as Alpha Centauri which is 4.3 light years away. It contains two similar stars and a distant red dwarf, Proxima Centauri.
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the closest star from Earth and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is located 4.2 light-years away from our Solar System. It is a yellowish star of the same type (G2) as the Sun but slightly larger. It is a member of a triple star system which includes Alpha Centauri A, the primary star, and Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf.
This system consists of two bright stars, which are orbiting around a common centre of gravity with an orbital period of 79 years. They are referred to as Alpha Centauri A and B and their relative distance from each other is about 11 astronomical units, the same as the distance between Earth and Uranus.
Aside from its close proximity to the Sun, the two stars are also among the best studied systems in the sky and are considered prime targets for astronomers who are looking for exoplanets. In fact, astronomers have recently discovered a planet in the Alpha Centauri system that is similar to Earth.
Currently, Proxima Centauri, the smallest component of the star system, is 4.2465 light-years away from Earth. This makes it the closest star in the system and the third-brightest star in the sky.
The two brighter stars, Alpha Centauri A and B, are of the same stellar type (G2) and are slightly bigger than the Sun. They are also about three times closer to Earth than the next nearest star like our Sun.
As a result, they are very close together and their orbits around a common centre of gravity are quite eccentric. They are a bit closer than the average distance between Pluto and the Sun, but a lot further than the average distance between Saturn and the Sun.
However, astronomers are not sure whether the two stars are in a stable orbit. The physics of a binary system is complex and there are some pitfalls that can cause a planet to be disturbed by the other star’s gravitational pull.
However, recent studies of ground- and space-based data have shown that the stars are very tightly bound. In particular, they are in a relatively close orbit, which means that there is very little chance for a planet to be disturbed by the other stars.
Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri (also known as V645 Centauri) is the closest star from Earth, just 4.2 light years away. It is a red dwarf, one of the most common stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The small size of red dwarfs means that they can sustain nuclear fusion for much longer than larger stars, and this has allowed them to shine for billions of years.
As a red dwarf, Proxima Centauri can sometimes experience flares that can increase its brightness for a few minutes. These flares are caused by convective heat transfer in the star’s atmosphere, releasing magnetic energy. The flares can reach temperatures of 27 million K, enough to produce X-rays.
A planet of the same type as Earth was discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri in 2016 using radial velocity measurements. The planet, which has a minimum mass of 1.3 Earth masses and a semi-major axis distance of about 0.05 astronomical units, is within Proxima Centauri’s habitable zone.
Scientists have found evidence that this planet has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. Its equilibrium temperature is 234 K (-39 deg C or -38 deg F), which is slightly colder than the Sun’s (255 K, -18 deg C or -1 deg F).
This discovery was made by astronomers using the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. It is the first time that a planetary system has been directly detected around a red dwarf star.
The team also used a spectrograph called ESPRESSO to determine the star’s Doppler shift, which is a measure of the star’s motion relative to Earth. When the Doppler shift changes, it is a signal that the planet is changing its orbit.
It is estimated that the planet has a period of 11.2 days and orbits within 0.05 astronomical units of its host star. It is slightly more massive than Earth and its gravity is causing it to tilt its orbit in the direction of its host star.
Scientists have also observed a regular cycle of starspots on the star, which are dark spots that appear to cover a fifth of the star’s surface at once. These spots are caused by convective heat transfer and are cooler than the rest of the star’s surface. It is thought that these spots may be a remnant of the star’s past, when it was a hot red giant.
Barnard’s Star
Barnard’s Star is a low-mass red dwarf that is only about six light years away from earth and is the closest star to our solar system. Despite its proximity to the Sun, Barnard’s Star is too faint for the naked eye. It can be seen by a good telescope and should not be confused with Proxima Centauri, which is even closer than Barnard’s Star.
The most famous feature of Barnard’s Star is its proper motion, which has been measured to be a staggering 10.3 arcseconds per year, the highest of any known star. This is also a result of its close proximity to Earth, as it is currently traveling at a velocity of about 140 kilometers per second (300,000 miles) in our direction.
However, while this apparent motion is due to the star’s close range to us, it is not a true reflection of the star’s actual movement across the sky. Instead, this high relative lateral velocity is the result of the star’s extremely close approach to the Sun.
Another interesting property of Barnard’s Star is its radial velocity, which is very high compared to other stars in the same neighborhood. This makes it easy for astronomers to track the star’s movement over time, similar to photographing the motion of an asteroid or comet.
In addition, a recent study found a planet that was orbiting Barnard’s Star, which has been called “Barnard’s Star b.” This exoplanet is about 3.2 times the mass of Earth and has an orbital period of 233 days. Its surface temperature is about 105 K, making it freezing cold and outside of the star’s habitable zone.
The discovery of a planet like this around Barnard’s Star is extremely exciting and shows that there are a lot of places for life to exist in our universe. But it’s not the first time astronomers have tried to find an exoplanet in this location.
Several astronomers have detected one or more gas giants around Barnard’s Star over the past two decades. Some of these planets were interpreted as containing a large amount of water, which could have provided the conditions needed for life to begin.
Ross 248
Ross 248, also known as Gliese 905 or HH Andromedae, is the tenth closest star from earth. It is a red dwarf that is a flare star, which means that it increases its luminosity for short periods of time. This means that it can only be observed with a telescope.
The spectral type of Ross 248 is M5.5, which makes it a cool and dim main sequence red dwarf. It has a mass of about 12 percent of Sol’s, seven percent of its diameter, and about 11/100,000th of its luminosity.
Located in the constellation Andromeda, Ross 248 was discovered in 1925 by Frank Elmore Ross. It was initially catalogued as a proper-motion star, but later found to be a flare star.
In the next 40,000 years, one of the farthest man-made objects, Voyager 2, will come 1.7 light-years close to Ross 248. This will happen if everything goes smoothly and the spacecraft is undisturbed.
There is a possibility that an exoplanet could be orbiting Ross 248. However, it is unlikely because the planet will likely orbit in the habitable zone of its parent star, which would cause tidal interaction.
This would result in an outward motion, which will eventually pull Ross 248 away from the Milky Way. If that happens, it will become the newest closest star.
Another star system within 10 light-years of Ross 248 is Luyten 726-8, a binary star system that was discovered by Willem Jacob Luyten in 1948. The two stars in this system are flare stars, which means that they increase their luminosity for short periods of time.
Lalande 21185 is a red dwarf that is 8.3044 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It has a luminosity of about 0.00195 and an estimated age of about 5 to 10 billion years.
It is not difficult to spot Lalande 21185 with a telescope, as it has a brightness of about 39% of the Sun’s. This is because red dwarfs are cooler than other types of stars, causing them to radiate their heat more efficiently.
In addition, red dwarfs are more likely to have rocky planets than other types of stars. This is because they are so much smaller and less dense than our own Sun.