1.0 KiB
| name | constellation | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toliman (α Centauri) | Cen | editor.cs | 2022-01-21 17:00:00 | skybber | 2022-01-23 10:19:28.724657 |
is the brightest star in the constellation and the third brightest star in the sky after Sirius and Canopus. However, it lies quite far to the south, and from 25 degrees north latitude it is visible only just above the horizon during the culmination. At a distance of 4.36 light years, it is our closest star visible to the naked eye. In reality, however, it is made up of two yellow components with brightnesses of 0.1mag and 1.3mag, which are usually easy to distinguish with a small telescope - at the turn of the millennium their separation reached 14.1". By 2035, that distance will shrink to just 2 arcseconds. Their mutual orbital period around their common centre of gravity is 80 years. The α Centauri system is our closest star system ever. However, our nearest star is actually a red dwarf of 10.7mag brightness called Proxima Centauri, which is also physically related to this system.