About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 81. Chapters: 1 Centauri, 2M1207, 2M1207b, 2 Centauri, 3 Centauri, 4 Centauri, Abell S740, Alpha Centauri, Beta Centauri, Boomerang Nebula, B Centauri, C1 Centauri, C2 Centauri, C3 Centauri, Centaurus, Centaurus A, Centaurus Cluster, Centaurus X-3, Chi Centauri, C Centauri, Delta Centauri, D Centauri, Epsilon Centauri, ESO 269-57, E Centauri, F Centauri, Gamma Centauri, Gliese 435, Gliese 542, G Centauri, HD 101570, HD 101930, HD 101930 b, HD 102117, HD 102117 b, HD 102350, HD 102776, HD 103197, HD 103197 b, HD 107914, HD 109749, HD 109749 b, HD 110073, HD 110458, HD 111597, HD 111915, HD 111968, HD 113703, HD 113766, HD 114386, HD 114386 b, HD 114613, HD 114729, HD 114729 b, HD 114837, HD 115310, HD 116243, HD 117207, HD 117207 b, HD 117440, HD 117618, HD 117618 b, HD 121474, HD 121504, HD 121504 b, HD 123569, HD 125288, HD 125595, HD 125628, HD 129116, HD 129456, HD 129685, HR 4523, HR 4796, H Centauri, IC 2944, Iota Centauri, J Centauri, Kappa Centauri, K Centauri, Lambda Centauri, List of stars in Centaurus, Mu Centauri, M Centauri, NGC 3766, NGC 3918, NGC 4603, NGC 4622, NGC 4650A, NGC 4696, NGC 4945, NGC 4976, NGC 5090 and NGC 5091, NGC 5102, NGC 5161, NGC 5253, NGC 5398, NGC 5408, NGC 7673, Nu Centauri, Omega Centauri, Omicron1 Centauri, Omicron2 Centauri, Omicron Centauri, Phi Centauri, Pi Centauri, Proxima Centauri, Psi Centauri, Q Centauri, RCW 49, Rho Centauri, R Centauri, Sigma Centauri, SN 185, SN 1986G, Southern Crab Nebula, Tau Centauri, Theta Centauri, Upsilon1 Centauri, Upsilon2 Centauri, Upsilon Centauri, V744 Centauri, V761 Centauri, V810 Centauri, V831 Centauri, V842 Centauri, V863 Centauri, V886 Centauri, X1 Centauri, X2 Centauri, Xi1 Centauri, Xi2 Centauri, Xi Centauri, Y Centauri, Zeta Centauri, Z Centauri. Excerpt: Alpha Centauri ( Centauri, Cen; also known as Rigel Kent see Names) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus and is currently inside the G-cloud. Although it appears to the unaided eye as a single object, Alpha Centauri is actually a binary star system (designated Alpha Centauri AB or Cen AB) whose combined visual magnitude of 0.27 makes it the third-brightest star in the night sky after the 1.46 magnitude Sirius and the 0.72 magnitude Canopus. Its individual component stars are named Alpha Centauri A ( Cen A), with 110% of the mass and 151.9% the luminosity of the Sun, and Alpha Centauri B ( Cen B), at 90.7% of the Sun's mass and 44.5% of its luminosity. During the pair's 79.91-year orbit about a common center, the distance between them varies from about that between Pluto and the Sun to that between Saturn and the Sun. The Alpha Centauri system is located 1.34 parsecs or 4.37 light years from the Sun, making it the closest star system to the Solar System. The nearest known system to Alpha Centauri is WISE 1049-5319 at 3.6 ly. A third star, known as Proxima Centauri, Proxima, or Alpha Centauri C ( Cen C), is probably gravitationally associated with Alpha Centauri AB. Proxima is at the slightly smaller distance of 1.29 parsecs or 4.24 light years from the Sun, making it the closest star to the Sun, even though it is not visible to the naked eye. The separation of Proxima from Alpha Centauri AB is about 0.06 parsecs, 0.2 light years or 13,000 astronomical units (AU); equivalent to 400 times the size of Neptune's orbit. The system may also contain at least one planet, the Earth-sized Alpha Centauri Bb, which if confirmed will be the closest known exoplanet to Earth. The planet has a mass at least 113% of Earth's and orbits Alpha Centauri B with a period of 3.236 days. Orbiting at a distance of 6 million kilometers from the star, 4% of the distance of the Earth to the Sun and a tenth of the distance between Mercury and the Sun, the p
