Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star approximately 4.2 light-years (3.97 × 1013 km) distant in the constellation of Centaurus. The star is the nearest star to the Sun and is only 0.21 ly (15,000 ± 700 astronomical units) away from the binary star system Alpha Centauri. Proxima Centauri's diameter is one-seventh that of the Sun; its mass is about an eighth of the Sun's, and its average density is about 40 times that of the Sun. Although it has a very low average luminosity, Proxima Centauri is a flare star that undergoes random increases in brightness because of magnetic activity; during a flare the star generates a total X-ray emission similar to that produced by the Sun. The star's relatively low energy production rate means that it will be a main-sequence star for another four trillion years, or nearly 300 times the current age of the universe. Searches for companions orbiting Proxima Centauri have been unsuccessful; the detection of smaller objects will require the use of new instruments, such as the proposed Space Interferometry Mission. Whether a planet orbiting this star could support life is disputed. Because of the star's proximity, it has been proposed as a destination for interstellar travel.
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 869: The Fourth Council of Constantinople, the eighth Catholic Ecumenical Council, was convened to discuss the patriarchate of Photios I of Constantinople. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Council_of_Constantinople_%28Roman_Catholic%29> 1877: After battling the U.S. Army for more than three months, retreating over 1,000 miles across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and enduring a five-day siege, Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce band finally surrendered. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph> 1903: Samuel Griffith became the first Chief Justice of Australia, while Edmund Barton and Richard O'Connor became the first Puisne Justices of the High Court of Australia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Griffith> 1948: The International Union for Conservation of Nature was founded at a congress sponsored by UNESCO director Julian Huxley in Fontainebleau, France. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature> 1963: The US suspended the Commercial Import Program, its main economic support for South Vietnam, in response to oppression of Buddhism by President Ngo Dinh Diem. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Import_Program> 1986: The British newspaper The Sunday Times published former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu's story revealing details of Israel's nuclear capability. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: peristalsis (n): The rhythmic, wave-like contraction of the digestive tract that forces food through it <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peristalsis> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: There are things I can't force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint. --Denis Diderot <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denis_Diderot> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
