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Alpha Centauri

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A stunning view of the stars Alpha Centauri A and B, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. These are the closest stars to our solar system and are often studied by astronomers.

Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri is a special group of three stars in the night sky. It is found in the constellation called Centaurus. These three stars are called Rigil Kentaurus (or Alpha Centauri A), Toliman (Alpha Centauri B), and Proxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our Sun. It is about 4.25 light-years away. Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman are like our Sun in some ways. They move around each other as a pair, called a binary star system. From Earth, they look like one bright star. They are the third-brightest star we can see at night, after Sirius and Canopus.

People have watched these stars for a very long time. Ancient astronomers wrote about them. Scientists keep learning more about how they move and how far away they are.

Alpha Centauri is very special because it is close to us and looks bright in the sky. It helps us find other stars, too. The three stars are held together by gravity and move as one group through space.

Scientists are excited about Alpha Centauri because it might have planets like Earth. They are using special telescopes to look for more planets around these stars.

Images

An illustration of the Alpha Centauri star system.
The Very Large Telescope in Chile looking toward the star system Alpha Centauri, the closest stars to Earth.
An illustration of the stars Alpha Centauri, Beta Centauri, and Proxima Centauri in the night sky.
Diagram showing how to find the south celestial pole using stars like the Southern Cross and the Southern Pointers.
Diagram showing the positions of our Sun and the stars Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri in space.
A stellar map showing the positions of stars and brown dwarfs within 9 light-years of Earth, displaying their distance and location in space.
An animation showing how the star Alpha Centauri moves across the sky over time, with background stars appearing stationary for teaching purposes.
A diagram showing the orbit of the star Proxima Centauri in relation to the Alpha Centauri system over thousands of years.
Diagram showing the orbit of the star Alpha Centauri B around Alpha Centauri A, helping us understand how stars move in space.
A diagram showing the positions of Alpha Centauri stars and the Sun in a star classification chart.
A scientific image showing stars and the detection of a possible planet around them, used to study distant worlds.

Related articles

Constellation
Centaurus
Proxima Centauri
Light-year
Binary star
Sirius

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Alpha Centauri, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.