Stars · Red dwarf
Proxima Centauri
4.25 light-years · Light crosses it in 0.72 seconds
- Across
- 214,554 km
- Vs Earth
- 1.53× Jupiter
- Mass
- 0.12 Suns
Open Proxima Centauri in Cosmic Scale
About
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun, a small red dwarf gravitationally tied to the bright pair of Alpha Centauri. It is too faint to see with the naked eye despite being our nearest neighbour.
The nearest star to the Sun.
At a glance
| Distance | 4.25 light-years |
|---|---|
| Surface | 3,042 K |
| Mass | 12% of the Sun |
| Planets | At least two |
Did you know
- Proxima b orbits in the zone where liquid water is possible — the nearest such planet to Earth that we know of.
- It is a flare star: it can brighten enormously in minutes, which may be bad news for life on its planets.
- Travelling at the speed of Voyager 1, the trip would take about 73,000 years.
Real photo
- Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighbour, from Hubble — ESA/Hubble & NASA (CC BY 4.0) · source