July 15, 2002
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us, and yet here you are — a collection of atoms that somehow learned to think, to...
Proxima Centauri: The Closest Star
Birthday · July 15, 2002
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APOD published July 15, 2002. Credit: David Malin. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What is the closest star to our Sun? It is Proxima Centauri, the nearest member of the Alpha Centauri triple star system. Light takes only 4.22 years to reach us from Proxima Centauri. This small red star, captured in the center of the above image, is so faint that it was only discovered in 1915 and is only visible through a telescope. Stars of all types from our Milky Way Galaxy are visible in the background. The brightest star in the Alpha Centauri system is quite similar to our Sun, has been known as long as recorded history, and is the third brightest star in the night sky. The Alpha Centauri system is primarily visible from Earth's Southern Hemisphere.
Image credit: David Malin