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The distance of Alpha Centauri from the Earth is now reckoned at 4.396 light-years or 4.159 × 10 13 km.) α Centauri A (left) is of the same stellar type G2 as the Sun, while α Centauri B (right) is a K1-type star.
Solar sail craft can approach the Sun to deliver observation payloads or to take up station keeping orbits. They can operate at 0.25 AU or closer. They can reach high orbital inclinations, including polar. Solar sails can travel to and from all of the inner planets. Trips to Mercury and Venus are for rendezvous and orbit entry for the payload.
The closest encounter to the Sun so far predicted is the low-mass orange dwarf star Gliese 710 / HIP 89825 with roughly 60% the mass of the Sun. [4] It is currently predicted to pass 0.1696 ± 0.0065 ly (10 635 ± 500 au) from the Sun in 1.290 ± 0.04 million years from the present, close enough to significantly disturb the Solar System's Oort ...
On this scale, the distance to Alpha Centauri A would be 276 kilometers (171 miles). The fastest outward-bound spacecraft yet sent, Voyager 1, has covered 1/390 of a light-year in 46 years and is currently moving at 1/17,600 the speed of light. At this rate, a journey to Proxima Centauri would take 75,000 years.
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]
A preliminary mission outline suggests the use of solar sails [4] propelled by high energy lasers to increase propulsion. [4] The proposed launch would be on the 100th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. [6] The spacecraft would reach Alpha Centauri by the year 2113, 44 years after its launch travelling at 10% of the speed of light. [3]
Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough Initiatives to develop a proof-of-concept fleet of light sail interstellar probes named Starchip, [1] to be capable of making the journey to the Alpha Centauri star system 4.34 light-years away. It was founded in 2016 by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark ...
This is a list of M-type stars within 13 light years. Proxima Centauri is the ... 30 light years. Alpha Centauri B is ... distance to Earth measured after the Sun ...