Proxima Centauri

The red dwarf star Proxima Centauri (also Alpha Centauri C), part of the Alpha Centauri star system, is the nearest star to our Earth other than the Sun. Proxima Centauri is roughly 4.22 light years from Earth, 270,000 times as far as the sun.

Its apparent magnitude is 11 (very weak, as red dwarfs in general are: far too weak to be observable with the naked eye).

Proxima Centauri has often been suggested as a logical first destination for interstellar travel.

Proxima Centauri is only about 13,000 astronomical units away from Alpha Centauri and may be in orbit about it, with a period on the order of 500,000 years or more. For this reason, Proxima is sometimes referred to as Alpha Centauri C.
However, it is not clear if it really is in orbit, although the association is unlikely to be entirely accidental as it shares approximately the same motion through space as the larger star system.

See also:

• Alpha Centauri, Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B
• List of nearest stars

External links:

• The nearest stars to Earth (http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/public/nearest)
• Photograph of Proxima Centauri (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020715)
• Photograph of the Alpha Centauri system (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960526)