11 lines
1013 B
Markdown
11 lines
1013 B
Markdown
---
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name: Proxima Centauri
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constellation: Cen
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created_by: 8mag
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created_date: 2022-01-21 17:00:00
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updated_by: skybber
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updated_date: 2022-01-23 10:24:42.633336
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---
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In 1915, R. T. Innes measured the proper motions of stars around α Centauri. At a distance of 2.2 arc degrees southwest of this star, he found a star of brightness 10.7mag moving in the same direction and speed as both components of α Centauri. This red dwarf is actually our closest star to the Sun, only 4.25 light-years away. It probably belongs to the α Centauri system, even though it orbits it at a very great distance. Yet in a few thousand years, when it gets past Toliman, it will no longer be our nearest star. Proxima - which means "nearest" in Latin - will occasionally brighten by more than half a magnitude and usually return to its original brightness in half an hour. Proxima Centauri is a small star, with a mass of only 1/10 that of the Sun, and is very faint, shining less than 0.0008 of the Sun. |