What star is closest to the earth?

Question

excluding the sun, of course.

Answer 1

1) Proxima Centauri
The closest star to our our own solar system will not always be closest, but it will be a long time before that happens. Proxima Centauri is the third star in the Alpha Centauri star system, also known as Alpha Centauri C.
Distance: 4.2 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5Vc
2) Rigil Kentaurus
The second closest star is a tie between the sister stars of Proxima Centauri. Alpha Centauri A and B make up the other two stars of the triple star system Alpha Centauri.
Distance: 4.3 LY
Spectral Type: G2V
3) Barnard's Star
A faint red dwarf star, discovered in 1916 by E. E. Barnard, recent efforts to discover planets around Barnard's Star have failed.
Distance: 5.9 LY
Spectral Type: M3.8V
4) Wolf 359
Known to many as thelocation of a famous battle on Star Trek the Next generation, Wolf 359 is a red dwarf. It is so small that if it were to replace our sun, an observer on Earth would need a telescope to see it clearly.
Distance: 7.7 LY
Spectral Type: M5.8Vc
5) Lalande 21185
While it is the fifth closest star to our own sun, Lalande 21185 is about three times too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
Distance: 8.26 LY
Spectral Type: M2V
6) Luyten 726-8A and B
Discovered by Willem Jacob Luyten (1899-1994), both Luyten 726-8A 726-8B are red dwarfs and too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
Distance: 8.73 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5 de & M6 Ve
7) Sirius A and B
Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky. Sirius B, the companion, has received considerable attention itself, since it is the first white dwarf with a spectrum to show a gravitational red shift as predicted by the general theory of relativity.
Distance: 8.6 LY
Spectral Type: A1Vm
8) Ross 154
Ross 154 appears to be a flare star, which means that it can increase its brightness by a factor of 10 or more before reverting to its normal state, a process which takes only a few minutes.
Distance: 9.693 LY
Spectral Type: M3.5
9) Ross 248
While it is now the ninth closest star to our solar system, around the year 38000AD, the red dwarf Ross 248 will take the place of Proxima Centauri as the closest star to us.
Distance: 10.32 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5V
10) Epsilon Eridani
Eridani (tenth closest star to Earth) is the closest star known to have a planet, Epsilon Eridani b. It is the third closest star that is viewable without a telescope.
Distance: 10.5 LY
Spectral Type: K2V

Answer 2

Proxima Centauri. Sometimes you will see Alpha Centauri listed as the closest, but it is just the brightest of a 3 star system.

This may change any day now if a brown dwarf is found to be closer.

Answer 3

Proxima Centauri

Answer 4

Proxima Centauri

>

Answer 5

Alpha Centauri

Answer 6

Proxima Centauri!!!

Answer 7

Proxima Centauri. 4 light years away.

To give you an idea of the distance of this second-closest star to our planet, if you were to take a plane there (assuming hypothetically that planes can fly in space though they can't), it would take you millions of years to get there.

Answer 8

It is proxima Centaurus in about 4.2 lightyears' distance, known as one of the stars in the figure "Cassiopeija". (if you identify the 'w' then it is the left bottom one) It means, in clear nights you can see it with an unaided eye. You will find it by following the northern axis of the 'Big Bear', elongating it till you cross the so called North Star, still elongating that line and you'll find that w-shaped figure 'Cassiopeja'

Answer 9

Alpha Centauri, which is actually a system of three stars and is 4.39 light-years from us.

Answer 10

Check this out, it's a list of the closest stars:

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/nearest.html