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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня α Центавра: самая близкая звездная система http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1948857/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Telescope Live, Heaven's Mirror Observatory;
Processing: Chris Cantrell
Explanation:
The closest star system to the Sun is the
Alpha Centauri system.
Of the three stars in the system, the dimmest -- called
Proxima Centauri
-- is actually the
nearest star.
The bright stars
Alpha Centauri A and B form a close
binary
as they are separated by only 23 times the
Earth- Sun distance - slightly greater than the distance between
Uranus and the
Sun.
The
Alphasystem is not visible in much of the
northern hemisphere.
Alpha Centauri A, also known as
Rigil Kentaurus, is the brightest star in the constellation of
Centaurus and is the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
Sirius is the brightest
even though it is more than twice as far away.
By an
exciting coincidence,
Alpha Centauri A is the same type of star as our
Sun,
and Proxima Centauri is now known to have a
potentially habitable exoplanet.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.