Proxima Centauri Sun

A Proxima Centauri Sun is a Red Dwarf Sun that is ~4.2 light-years away.

• Context:
  • It is 4.85 Gyr old.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Alpha Centauri.
• See: Flare Star.

---

---

References

2016

• (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri Retrieved:2016-8-24.
  • Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, a small low-mass star, about 4.25 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun. With an apparent magnitude of 11.05, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Proxima Centauri may form a third component of the Alpha Centauri binary star system, but at a separation of 15,000 ± 700 AU its orbital period is likely greater than 500,000 years. Because of Proxima Centauri's proximity to Earth, its angular diameter can be measured directly. It is about one-seventh the diameter of that of the Sun. It has a mass about an eighth of the Sun's mass and its average density is about 40 times that of the Sun. Although it has a very low average luminosity, Proxima is a flare star that undergoes random 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 mixing of the fuel at Proxima Centauri's core through convection and its relatively low energy-production rate mean that it will be a main-sequence star for another four trillion years, or nearly 300 times the current age of the universe. The star is suspected to host a planet, Proxima b, discovered in 2016. Previous searches for companions orbiting Proxima Centauri have been unsuccessful, ruling out the presence of brown dwarfs and supermassive planets. Precision radial velocity surveys have also ruled out the presence of super-Earths within the star's habitable zone. The detection of smaller objects will require the use of new instruments, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for deployment in 2018. Because Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf and a flare star, whether a planet orbiting it could support life is disputed. Nevertheless, because of the star's proximity to Earth, it has been proposed as a destination for interstellar travel.

• 

---