Alpha Centauri
- Type
- Star System (Trinary)
- Diameter
- 1,072,620 miles (A), 742,756 miles (B) 133,316 miles (Proxima)
- Distance
- 4.24 light years (Proxima)
- Orbit Time
- 79 years (A & B), 547,000 years (Proxima)
- Temperature
- 9,900 °F (A), 9,000 °F (B), 5,000 °F (Proxima)
- Star Type(s)
- G2V (A), K1V (B), M5.5Ve (Proxima)
- Date of Discovery
- A & B unknown, Proxima 1915 (Robert Innes)
- Alpha Centauri is a triple star system (trinary) and is the closest star system we know of to Earth. Proxima, the smallest of the three stars, is about 4 and a quarter light years distant.
- Find out what planets are known in this star system.
- Located in
- Centaurus, Milky Way
- Alpha Centauri A is the same type of star as our Sun, a G-type star, whereas B is a K-type star.
- The two main stars take over 79 years to orbit each other, having a separation that varies from the orbit of Saturn to Pluto.
- Proxima is a red dwarf star, and has an orbit that is so far (about a tenth of a light year) that it takes over half a million years to orbit A & B.
- Proxima was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes.
- Proxima is the closest star to us, and it has planets, but those planest are unlikely to support life because of the type of star Proxima is.
