File:New shot of Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighbour.jpg

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New_shot_of_Proxima_Centauri,_our_nearest_neighbour.jpg (604 × 592 pixels, file size: 68 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Proxima Centauri Star

Summary

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Description
English: Shining brightly in this Hubble image is our closest stellar neighbour: Proxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun.

However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a “flare star”, meaning that convection processes within the star’s body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged — or a “main sequence” star in astronomical terms — for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current Universe.

These observations were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system — its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame.

Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbour, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble’s eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the Universe around us.
Español: El brillante resplandor en esta imagen del Hubble es nuestro vecino estelar más cercano: Próxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri se encuentra en la constelación de Centaurus (El Centauro), poco más de cuatro años-luz de la Tierra. A pesar de que parece brillante por el ojo de Hubble, como se podría esperar de la estrella más cercana al Sistema Solar, Proxima Centauri no es visible a simple vista. Su luminosidad media es muy baja, y es muy pequeña en comparación con otras estrellas, en sólo alrededor de una octava parte de la masa del Sol

Sin embargo, en ocasiones, que aumenta su brillo. Proxima es lo que se conoce como una "estrella bengala", lo que significa que los procesos de convección dentro del cuerpo de la estrella hacen propenso a cambios aleatorios y dramáticos en el brillo. Los procesos de convección no sólo desencadenan brillantes estallidos de luz de las estrellas, pero, en combinación con otros factores, hacen que Proxima Centauri posea una vida muy larga. Los astrónomos predicen que esta estrella se mantendrá de mediana edad - o una estrella "secuencia principal" en términos astronómicos - por otros cuatro billones de años, algunos 300 veces la edad del Universo actual.

Estas observaciones fueron tomadas con el campo ancho de Hubble y la cámara planetaria 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri es en realidad parte de un sistema estelar triple - sus dos compañeros, Alpha Centauri A y B, se encuentran fuera del marco.

Aunque para los estándares cósmicos es un vecino cercano, Proxima Centauri sigue siendo un objeto puntual incluso utilizando la visión ojos de águila del Hubble, haciendo alusión a la gran escala del universo que nos rodea.
Date
Source http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1343a/
Author ESA/Hubble & NASA

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File history

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current22:24, 21 July 2019Thumbnail for version as of 22:24, 21 July 2019604 × 592 (68 KB)BevinKacon (talk | contribs)actual size from original source
10:01, 6 April 2016Thumbnail for version as of 10:01, 6 April 20162,048 × 1,536 (327 KB)Codrinb (talk | contribs)Higher resolution version from http://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/images/wallpaper5/potw1343a.jpg
02:40, 29 October 2013Thumbnail for version as of 02:40, 29 October 20131,280 × 1,255 (98 KB)Jmencisom (talk | contribs)User created page with UploadWizard

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