Alpha Centauri

Show Summary Details

Quick Reference

The closest star to the Sun, also known as Rigil Kentaurus. It is actually a triple system, consisting of a bright binary with a period of 80 years and a faint red dwarf 2° away called Proxima Centauri. The binary consists of a G2 dwarf of magnitude −0.01 and a K1 dwarf of magnitude 1.3. To the naked eye they appear as a single star of magnitude −0.28, the third-brightest in the sky. The binary pair lie 4.32 l.y. from the Sun, 0.09 l.y. farther than Proxima Centauri.

Subjects: Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Reference entries
