⭐ Star
Alpha Centauri
The closest star system to the Sun.
- Size
- about the same width as the Sun
- Distance
- 4.4 light-years away
- Stars
- Three: A, B and Proxima Centauri
Did you know?
- Its smallest star, Proxima Centauri, has at least one planet.
Find it in the sky
Photographed or visited by
Gaia
Mapped nearly two billion stars, then switched itself off.
The life of a starA step in a star’s life: a long, steady life
Compare Alpha Centauri with EarthSide by side, to scale, in the app
More NASA photos of Alpha CentauriStraight from NASA’s image library, in the app
Explore more
All of deep space
The Sun
Our star, an ordinary one that keeps everything here alive.
Betelgeuse
A red supergiant in Orion that will one day explode.
Eta Carinae
A pair of giant stars, one of them about 90 times heavier than the Sun.
Mira
A red giant star racing through space with a tail like a comet.
Zeta Ophiuchi
A runaway star, flung out when its partner exploded.
Pistol Star
One of the brightest stars known in our galaxy, hidden behind dust.