Shining brightly in this Hubble Space Telescope image is our closest stellar neighbor: Proxima Centauri.
Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the solar system, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun.
However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a "flare star," meaning that convection processes within the star's body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged – or a "main sequence" star in astronomical terms – for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current universe.
These observations were taken using Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system – its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame.
Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbor, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble's eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the universe around us.
Credits
Credit: NASA and ESA| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Proxima Centauri |
| R.A. Position | 14h 29m 42.94s |
| Dec. Position | -62° 40' 46.16" |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
