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Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star with a mass about 12.5% of the Sun's mass (M ☉), and average density about 33 times that of the Sun. Because of Proxima Centauri's proximity to Earth, its angular diameter can be measured directly. Its actual diameter is about one-seventh (14%) the diameter of the Sun.
Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to Earth, [20] at a distance of about 4.2 ly (1.3 parsecs). [5] It orbits Proxima Centauri every 11.186 Earth days at a distance of about 0.049 AU, [1] over 20 times closer to Proxima Centauri than Earth is to the Sun. [21] As of 2021, it is unclear whether it has an eccentricity [e] [24] but Proxima Centauri b is unlikely to have any obliquity. [25]
The closest system is Alpha Centauri, with Proxima Centauri as the closest star in that system, at 4.2465 light-years from Earth. The brightest, most massive and most luminous object among those 131 is Sirius A , which is also the brightest star in Earth's night sky ; its white dwarf companion Sirius B is the hottest object among them.
Alpha Centauri A and B are a closely tied pair of Sun-like stars, whereas the closest star to the Sun, the small red dwarf Proxima Centauri, orbits the pair at a distance of 0.2 light-years. In 2016, a potentially habitable exoplanet was found to be orbiting Proxima Centauri, called Proxima Centauri b, the closest confirmed exoplanet to the Sun ...
The nearest known star is Proxima Centauri at 269,000 AU (4.25 ly), [4] followed by Alpha Centauri at about 4.35 light years. [4] Oort cloud comets orbit the Sun at great distances, but can then be perturbed by passing stars and the galactic tides. [5]
The scale model of Proxima Centauri in Yulara, Australia. In 2018 scale model of the star Proxima Centauri was added to Akaa Solar System Scale Model. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star and the nearest star to the Solar System. It is located 4.24 light-years away.
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However, Proxima Centauri's classification as a red dwarf casts doubts on the habitability of any exoplanets in its orbit due to low stellar flux, high probability of tidal locking, small circumstellar habitable zones and high stellar variation. Another likely candidate is Alpha Centauri, Earth's nearest Sun-like star system 4.37 light-years away.