Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri (Latin proxima, meaning next to or nearest to) is a red dwarf about 4.24 light-years from the Sun, inside the G-cloud, in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye (apparent magnitude 11.05). Its distance to the second- and third-nearest stars, which form the bright binary Alpha Centauri, is 0.237 ± 0.011 ly (15,000 ± 700 AU).[15] Proxima Centauri is very likely part of a triple star system with Alpha Centauri A and B.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:20:06 +0000
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