Proxima Centauri is a small, low-mass star located 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc) away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the 'nearest [star] of Centaurus'. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest-known star to the Sun. With a quiescent apparent magnitude of 11.13, it is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. Proxima Centauri is a member of the Alpha Centauri star system, being identified as component Alpha Centauri C, and is 2.18° to the southwest of the Alpha Centauri AB pair. It is currently 12,950 AU (0.2 ly) from AB, which it orbits with a period of about 550,000 years.
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. Although it has a very low average luminosity, Proxima Centauri is a flare star that randomly undergoes dramatic increases in brightness because of magnetic activity. The star's magnetic field is created by convection throughout the stellar body, and the resulting flare activity generates a total X-ray emission similar to that produced by the Sun. The internal mixing of its fuel by convection through its core, and Proxima's relatively low energy-production rate, mean that it will be a main-sequence star for another four trillion years.
Proxima Centauri has two known exoplanets and one candidate exoplanet: Proxima Centauri b, Proxima Centauri d and the disputed Proxima Centauri c.[nb 3] Proxima Centauri b orbits the star at a distance of roughly 0.05 AU (7.5 million km) with an orbital period of approximately 11.2 Earth days. Its estimated mass is at least 1.07 times that of Earth.[16] Proxima b orbits within Proxima Centauri's habitable zone—the range where temperatures are right for liquid water to exist on its surface—but, because Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf and a flare star, the planet's habitability is highly uncertain. A candidate super-Earth, Proxima Centauri c, roughly 1.5 AU (220 million km) away from Proxima Centauri, orbits it every 1,900 d (5.2 yr).[17][18] A sub-Earth, Proxima Centauri d, roughly 0.029 AU (4.3 million km) away, orbits it every 5.1 days.[16]
^"Collins English Dictionary". HarperCollins Publishers. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
^ abcdBrown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 649: A1. arXiv:2012.01533. Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. S2CID 227254300. (Erratum: doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
^ abSamus', N. N; Kazarovets, E. V; Durlevich, O. V; Kireeva, N. N; Pastukhova, E. N (2017). "General catalogue of variable stars". Astronomy Reports. GCVS 5.1. 61 (1): 80. Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S. doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085. S2CID 125853869.
^Bessell, M. S. (1991). "The late-M dwarfs". The Astronomical Journal. 101: 662. Bibcode:1991AJ....101..662B. doi:10.1086/115714.
^ abcdKervella, P.; Thévenin, F.; Lovis, C. (2017). "Proxima's orbit around α Centauri". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 598: L7. arXiv:1611.03495. Bibcode:2017A&A...598L...7K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629930. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 50867264. Separation: 3.1, left column of page 3; Orbital period and epoch of periastron: Table 3, right column of page 3.
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^ abCite error: The named reference Pineda2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^Cite error: The named reference FengJones2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Klein, Baptiste; et al. (January 2021). "The large-scale magnetic field of Proxima Centauri near activity maximum". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 500 (2): 1844–1850. arXiv:2010.14311. Bibcode:2021MNRAS.500.1844K. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3396.
^Collins, John M.; Jones, Hugh R. A.; Barnes, John R. (June 2017). "Calculations of periodicity from Hα profiles of Proxima Centauri". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 602. A48. arXiv:1608.07834. Bibcode:2017A&A...602A..48C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201628827. S2CID 18949162. See section 4: "the vsini is probably less than 0.1 km/s for Proxima Centauri".
^Cite error: The named reference ESO2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Proxima centauri". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 28 April 2022.—some of the data is located under "Measurements".
^ abCite error: The named reference FariaSuárezMascareñoSilva2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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ProximaCentauri is a small, low-mass star located 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc) away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin...
ProximaCentauri b (or Proxima b), sometimes referred to as Alpha Centauri Cb, is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star...
Centauri A), Toliman (B) and ProximaCentauri (C). ProximaCentauri is the closest star to the Sun at 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc). Alpha Centauri A...
ProximaCentauri d (also called Proxima d) is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star ProximaCentauri, the closest star to the Sun and part of the Alpha...
ProximaCentauri c (also called Proxima c or Alpha Centauri Cc) is a controversial exoplanet candidate claimed to be orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima...
units (0.032–3.2 light-years). The closest star to the Solar System, ProximaCentauri, is 4.25 light-years away. Both stars belong to the Milky Way galaxy...
the closest stars to the Sun, Alpha Centauri A (a Sun-like star that is one of two companions of ProximaCentauri), can be pictured by scaling down the...
coincident with the direction of the Solar System's closest star, ProximaCentauri. The apparent shift in its frequency, consistent with the Doppler effect...
(2001). "Observational Estimates for the Mass-Loss Rates of α Centauri and ProximaCentauri Using Hubble Space Telescope Lyα Spectra". Astrophysical Journal...
seconds. In 2018 scale model of the star ProximaCentauri was added to Akaa Solar System Scale Model. ProximaCentauri is a red dwarf star and the nearest...
worldbuilding characteristics". The Alpha Centauri system is the closest star system to Earth—with ProximaCentauri being the closest of the system's stars—which...
an angle of one arcsecond (1/3600 of a degree). The nearest star, ProximaCentauri, is about 1.3 parsecs (4.2 light-years) from the Sun: from that distance...
potentially habitable exoplanet was found to be orbiting Proxima Centauri, called ProximaCentauri b, the closest confirmed exoplanet to the Sun. The Solar System...
which is ProximaCentauri 4.25 light-years away. The first confirmed exoplanet discovered in the ProximaCentauri system was ProximaCentauri b, in 2016...
rocky planet in the habitable zone of ProximaCentauri, the closest star to Earth (not counting the Sun). Called Proxima b, the planet is 1.3 times the mass...
identified probably did not exist. ProximaCentauri b (Alpha Centauri Cb) ProximaCentauri c Alpha Centauri Bc Alpha Centauri in fiction Project Longshot Dumusque...
exoplanets are located 4.2 light-years (1.3 parsecs) from Earth and orbit ProximaCentauri, the closest star to the Sun. The discovery of exoplanets has intensified...
approximately 4000 years. Alpha Centauri is a triple star system composed of a binary system orbited by ProximaCentauri, currently the nearest star to...
life than the one around ProximaCentauri, called Proxima b. Amos, Jonathan (24 August 2016). "Neighbouring star ProximaCentauri has Earth-sized planet"...
the stricter definitions of a red dwarf is visible to the naked eye. ProximaCentauri, the star nearest to the Sun, is a red dwarf, as are fifty of the sixty...
star/brown-dwarf system to Alpha Centauri, located 3.577 ly (1.097 pc) from Alpha Centauri AB, and 3.520 ly (1.079 pc) from ProximaCentauri. Both systems are located...
search for signs of life on planets orbiting stars in and around the Alpha Centauri system. The announcement was at the annual conference of the American Geophysical...
nearest exoplanet may be 4.2 light-years away, orbiting the red dwarf ProximaCentauri, according to a 2016 study. Such Earth-sized planets may be more numerous...