Gliese 445

Gliese 445, also known as Gl 445 or AC +79 3888, is a cool red star located in the northern sky. It belongs to the constellation Camelopardalis, which means "the giraffe." This star is what astronomers call an M-type main sequence star, which means it is similar to our Sun in that it fuses hydrogen into helium in its core to produce energy, but it is smaller and cooler than our Sun.

Gliese 445 is interesting to scientists because it is moving toward our solar system. In about 1.3 million years, it will pass very close to the Sun—closer than any other star currently known. This close approach would not harm Earth, but it would change the night sky dramatically, making some stars shift positions and possibly affecting the orbits of comets in our solar system.

Although Gliese 445 is far away and not visible to the naked eye without a telescope, it helps astronomers understand how stars move through the galaxy and how they might interact with our solar system in the distant future. Studying such stars gives us clues about the structure and evolution of the Milky Way.

Location

Gliese 445 is a star located about 17.1 light-years from Earth. It appears very dim, with a brightness that cannot be seen without a telescope, and it can be seen all night long from places north of the Tropic of Cancer. Because it is a small, cool star called a red dwarf, scientists think it might not be able to support life like our Sun does.

In the far future, around 40,000 years from now, the Voyager 1 spacecraft will pass close to Gliese 445, coming within 1.6 light-years of the star.

Solar encounter

The star Gliese 445 is moving quickly towards our Sun. In the future, when the Voyager probe passes by Gliese 445, the star will be about 3.45 light-years from the Sun. At that time, Gliese 445 will be almost as close to the Sun as another star called Ross 248. However, it will be too dim to see without a telescope.