what is the closets star to us besides the sun?

Answer 1

Well, Proxima Centauri is the nearest at the moment, but this is not a static situation: these things can change.

When Proxima rotates to the far side of its orbit around Alpha Centauri A and B. they will be nearer to us, and A and B will alternately be the nearer of the pair to us, once every 80 years or so, and Proxima will need a change of name.

STARS WITHIN 10 LIGHT YEARS DISTANCE FROM EARTH

Proxima Centauri 4.22 light years away
Alpha Centauri A 4.36 light years away
Alpha Centauri B 4.36 light years away
Barnard's Star 5.96 light years away
Wolf 359 7.78 light years away
Lalande 21185 8.29 light years away
Sirius A 8.58 light years away
Sirius B 8.58 light years away
Luyten 726-8 B 8.72 light years away
Luyten 726-8 A 8.72 light years away
Ross 154 9.68 light years away

THE THREE NEAREST STARS WITH PLANETS OR ASTEROIDS

Epsilon Eridani 10.52 light years away (1 planet)
Tau Ceti 11.88 light years away (an asteroid belt)
Gliese 876 15.34 light years away (3 planets)

Interestingly the next nearest star to us, Barnard's Star, currently 5.96 light years away, is heading towards the Sun at about 106.8 kilometres/sec. Barnard's Star is approaching the Sun so rapidly that it will be the nearest star to the Sun around 11,800 AD, reaching as close as 3.8 light-years, closer than any of the trinary system in Centaurus,

This is happening because stars rotate within the Milky Way Galaxy. In the Sun's case, it takes about 200-225 million years to complete one orbit ans it has done about 21 orbits in its lifetime, therefore.

And, we can assume, which is the nearest star to us has altered several times as a result: just like which planet is nearest to Earth varies at different points of our orbit round the Sun. Sometimes it is Mars, sometimes it is Venus, sometimes it is Mercury, depending on where they all are in their orbits (which are not in phase with ours).

Something else that will change as time goes by is which star is the pole star, Gamma Cephei (Alrai) will become closer to the northern celestial pole than Polaris around 3000 AD, and be at its closest approach around 4000 AD. The "title" will pass to iota Cephei some time around 5200 AD. And thence to Vega (Alpha Lyrae) by about 14,000 AD.

As the French say, plus ca change.

Answer 2

The name "Alpha Centauri" actually denotes a triple star system
in the constellation Centaurus (it appears as a single star to the naked eye).
Two of these stars, denoted Alpha Centauri A and B, are very similar to the
sun and are approximately 4.336 light-years away. They orbit each other
(better said, they orbit their common center of mass) with a period of about
80 years. Then, orbiting this pair is a small, faint star only a tenth the
size of the sun. This star takes one-and-a-half million years to orbit the
larger pair; at the moment it is closer to us than the other two, a mere 4.205
light-years away. Because it is the nearest star to the sun, it is named
Proxima (from the Latin word for "nearest") Centauri. This information came
from "Astronomy: The Cosmic Journey", an astronomy text by William Hartmann.
I did not know this stuff myself until now!
Ronald Winther

Answer 3

Proxima Centauri, but some scientists belive in a brown dwarf star that is in a binary system with the sun called, Nemesis.

Answer 4

Proxima and Alpha Centauri,at about 4 light-years away from our Sun.

Answer 5

Proxima Centauri / Alpha Centauri.

Answer 6

Alpha Centauri

Answer 7

Proxima Centauri and then Alpha Centauri.

Proxima Centauri is 4.2 Light-Years away and the CLOSEST!
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/Proxima.html

Alpha Centauri is 4.39 Light-Years away
Alpha Centauri is a star system beyond our own solar system, being 4.39 LY away.

Alpha Centauri is the closest "star system" beyond our own solar system, being 4.39 light-years distant (about 25.8 trillion miles or 277,600 AU, 1 AU = 93,000,000 miles) (Proxima Centauri, often regarded as part of the system, is 4.26 light-years distant).

Answer 8

Proxima Centauri. The Centauri system is a trinary star system. The one closest to us is Proxima Centauri.

Answer 9

Proxima Centauri - 4.25 ly away from the Sun.

Answer 10

Alpha proximi and alpha centari are a binary star system. They are the closest after our sun. Around 4 light years distant.