Anomaly variable star 106 EP

Proxima Centauri

RA 217.4398° · Dec -62.6795° · star

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Score breakdown

· 11 badges

106 pts · Anomaly

Anomaly 120 pts → Mythic

Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun +34
Stellar next door (<10 ly) +25
Has a proper name +8
Deep red star +8
Red dwarf +6
Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
Gently variable +4
A named variable star +3
Main-sequence star +2

Total score 106

14 more points to reach Mythic.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Stellar next door (<10 ly) · +25
Has a proper name · +8
Cool red M-type star · +5
Main-sequence star · +2
Deep red star · +8
Red dwarf · +6
Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +6
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3
Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun · +34

Trivia

What makes it special

Next-door neighbour. One of the closest objects of its kind to the Sun — a first port of call for any interstellar mission we ever build.

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5Ve — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
It changes. This star does not hold still: its brightness rises and falls on a rhythm of hours, days or years, either pulsing in size or being eclipsed by a companion.

Sense of scale

In perspective. Closer than Proxima Centauri — this is about as near as another star gets.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 11 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Centaurus.
Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around April — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag: 15.447
bv: 1.807
constellation: Cen
dist ly: 4.2267
luminosity: 0.0001
mag: 11.01
name: Proxima Centauri
named: yes
spect: M5Ve
var amplitude: 0.14
var designation: V645
var max: 10.939
var min: 11.079

Nearby objects

About Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is an anomaly variable star. It lies about 4.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 11.01 and has spectral type M5Ve.

One of the closest objects of its kind to the Sun — a first port of call for any interstellar mission we ever build.

How to see it

Look for Proxima Centauri in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 11.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, Proxima Centauri is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why Proxima Centauri is an anomaly variable star

Proxima Centauri scores 106 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the anomaly tier. Another 14 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 11 science badges — Variable star, Stellar next door (<10 ly), Has a proper name, Cool red M-type star, Main-sequence star, Deep red star, Red dwarf and Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.