Wolf 359

Wolf 359 is a small and dim star located in the constellation Leo, close to the path the Sun follows in its journey around the sky, called the ecliptic. It lies just 7.86 light-years from Earth, making it one of the closest stars to our solar system. Because it is so faint, you need a large telescope to see it.

As a red dwarf, Wolf 359 is one of the least massive and faintest stars known. Its surface temperature is about 2,800 K, cool enough for molecules like water and titanium(II) oxide to exist. The star has a very strong magnetic field, much stronger than that of our Sun. This activity makes Wolf 359 a flare star, meaning it sometimes suddenly brightens, releasing powerful bursts of X-ray and gamma ray energy that space telescopes can detect.

Scientists think Wolf 359 is still relatively young, probably less than a billion years old. So far, no planets have been confirmed to orbit this star, but astronomers continue to study it to learn more about stars like this and the environments around them.

Observation history and name

Wolf 359 was first noticed by astronomers because it moved quickly across the sky compared to other stars. This quick movement suggested that the star was close to Earth. In 1917, a German astronomer named Max Wolf measured this movement with special photography. He published a list of stars that moved quickly in 1919, and Wolf 359 was number 359 on that list.

Later, in 1928, scientists measured how much Wolf 359 seemed to move each year, which helped them figure out its distance from Earth. For a long time, it was the faintest and least massive star known until another star, VB 10, was discovered in 1944. In 1969, Wolf 359 showed a brief brightening, showing that it is a type of star called a flare star.

Max Wolf astrophotography proper motions parallax Mount Wilson Observatory arcseconds VB 10 infrared variable stars flare stars

Properties

Wolf 359 is a small, cool star called a red dwarf. It is one of the nearest stars to the Sun, located about 7.86 light-years away. Because it is so dim, you need a large telescope to see it.

This star is very small and not very bright, with only about 11% of the Sun's mass and a radius just 14.4% that of the Sun. It is made mostly of hydrogen and will slowly burn this fuel for a very long time—about eight trillion years—before it eventually fades into a white dwarf. Wolf 359 sometimes suddenly brightens for a short time due to magnetic activity, which is common for stars like it.

Search for planets

Scientists have been looking for planets around Wolf 359. In 2019, some researchers thought they found two possible planets using special telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. But later studies showed that one of these possible planets was not really there—it was just the star spinning.

More recent observations have not confirmed the second possible planet either. We still do not know for sure if Wolf 359 has any planets. The studies also showed that there are no big, warm planets very close to Wolf 359.

In popular culture

Wolf 359 was featured in an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show, which first aired on November 7, 1964. It is also well known as the location of the Battle of Wolf 359 in the Star Trek universe. Today, a space station orbiting the star serves as the main setting for the Wolf 359 (podcast).