What is the nearest star to Earth (apart from the Sun) and how far away is it?
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William Haloupek says
The nearest known star is Proxima Centauri, which is 4,234 light years (40 trillion kilometers) away. It's a red dwarf star, and there is some controversy whether it is in orbit around the second and third nearest stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, or whether it is just passing through. If it is in orbit, the period will be at least half a million years.
Red dwarfs are very hard to see, even with infrared telescopes, and none of them can be seen from Earth, with the naked eye. It is still possible, though unlikely, that there are other red dwarf stars even closer, waiting to be discovered.
William is correct Proxima Centauri is the closest star to earth after the Sun or Sol.
At the moment it takes a rocket 9 months to get to mars and at that speed it would take a long time to reach Proxima Centauri. Even if we invented a space ship capable of travelling at 10% of the Speed of light it would still take 40 years to get there.
by Erick Adrian 7 years ago
Sun is a star or planet ?
by greyhound300 13 years ago
what should i do? walk away? fight it?i am torn apart between what i know and what i dream of?i am 21 and recently got over a relationship and a girl in my class who recently had a split with her guy of 3 years became my friend and blew my head. i was not the reason for her breakup. i am falling...
by Rafini 7 years ago
My son thinks so, and now I'm beginning to think it could be true - has this theory already been considered? I mean, it's impossible to know what the sun is really made of...all we know for sure, is that its still burning. It could have a solid mass at its core....I'm thinking that when...
by qwark 9 years ago
Do ya think this is possible?In less that 2 billion years the surface of our earth will boil as the suns fuel diminishes. Could the earth be moved to a greater distance from the sun in an effort to save it?
by Sychophantastic 10 years ago
According to Discovery.com, 1 in 4 Americans does not know that the Earth orbits the Sun. Does this say anything about America? Who are these people?
by aslanlight 14 years ago
Do aliens stay away because we're violent?Well if I was from a peaceful race and watched earth with all its wars it wouldn't be my favourite holiday destination! What do you think?
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