The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri

From ancient times, people turned their eyes to the sky, where he saw thousands of stars. They fascinated him and made him think. With centuries, knowledge about them accumulated and systematized. And when it became clear that the stars are not just luminous points, but real cosmic objects of enormous magnitude, a person had a dream - to fly to them. But first it was necessary to determine how far they are.

The nearest star to the Earth

With the help of telescopes and mathematical formulas, scientists were able to calculate the distances to our (excluding objects of the solar system) space neighbors. So, which star is closest to the Earth? It turned out to be a small Proxima Centauri. It enters the triple system, located about a little more than four light-years from the solar system (it should be noted that astronomers often use another unit of measurement - parsec). It was called proxima, which means "nearest" in Latin. For the universe, this distance seems insignificant, but at the present level of space shipbuilding, to reach it, it will take more than one generation of people.

Proxima Centauri

In the sky, this star can be seen only in the telescope. It shines less than the Sun about a hundred and fifty times. In size, it is also much inferior to the latter, and its surface temperature is half as much. Astronomers consider this star to be a brown dwarf, and the existence of planets around it is hardly possible. Therefore, it does not make sense to fly there. Although the triple system of Alpha Centauri itself deserves attention - in the universe, such objects are not very common. The stars in them turn one around the other in bizarre orbits, and it happens that they "devour" the neighbor.

Far space

Say a few words about the most remote of the objects discovered at the moment in the universe. Of the visible without the use of special optical devices - this is undoubtedly the Andromeda Nebula. Its brightness roughly corresponds to a quarter value. And the nearest star to the Earth of this galaxy is from us, according to calculations of astronomers, at a distance of two million light-years. A staggering amount! After all, we see it as it was two million years ago - that's how it turns out to look into the past! But let's return to our "neighbors". The closest galaxy to us is a dwarf that can be observed in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is so close to us that the Milky Way practically absorbs it! True, it's still eighty thousand light-years away. These are the distances in space! On the Magellanic Cloud and not worth talking about. This satellite of the Milky Way lags behind us by almost 170 million light years.

The closest stars to the Earth

Relatively near the Sun there is fifty one star system. But we will list only eight. So, get acquainted:

1. Already mentioned Proxima Centauri. The distance is four light years, class M5.5 (red or brown dwarf).
2. The stars of Alpha Centaurus A and B. They are removed from us by 4.3 light years. Objects of class D2 and K1, respectively. Alpha Centauri is also the closest star to the Earth, similar in temperature to our Sun.
3. Barnard's star - it is also called "Flying", because it moves with a large (compared to other space objects) speed. It is located at a distance of 6 light years from the Sun. The object of class M3,8. In the sky it can be found in the constellation Ophiuchus.
4. Wolf 359 - is at a distance of 7.7 light years from us. Object of the 16th magnitude in the constellation of the Dragon. Class M5,8.
5. Laland 1185 - removed from our system by 8.2 light years. It is located in the constellation Ursa Major. The object of class M2,1. The star magnitude is 10.
6. Tau Ceti - is located at a distance of 8.4 light years from us. Star of class M5,6.
7. System Sirius A and B - removed by eight and a half light years. Stars class A1 and DA.
8. Ross 154 in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is located at a distance of 9.4 light years from the Sun. Star of class M 3,6.

Here, only cosmic objects are mentioned, located within a radius of ten light years from us.

The sun

However, looking at the sky, we forget that the closest star to the Earth is still the Sun. This is the center of our system. Without it, life on Earth would be impossible, and our planet was formed along with this star. Therefore, it deserves special attention. A little about it. Like all stars, the Sun basically consists of hydrogen and helium. And the first constantly turns into the last. As a result of thermonuclear reactions , heavier elements also form. And the older the star, the more it accumulates.

By age, the closest star to the Earth is no longer young, it is about five billion years old. The mass of the Sun is ~ 2.10 ³³ g, diameter - 1 392 000 km. The temperature on the surface reaches 6000 K. In the middle of the star it rises. The atmosphere of the Sun consists of three parts: the crown, the chromosphere and the photosphere.

Solar activity significantly affects the life of the Earth. It is asserted that the climate, weather and state of the biosphere depend on it. It is known about the eleven-year periodicity of solar activity.