What is the closest star in the night sky and how far away is it?

Question

How would I locate that star in the sky at night? Is there any web sites that would help me know more about it?

Answer 1

Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system, but you can't see it from most of the northern hemisphere. It's about 4.3 light years away. There's a red dwarf member of the system (Proxima Centauri) that is the actual closest star, but it's too dim to be seen without a telescope. The next-closest naked-eye star, and the closest one you can see from most of the northern hemisphere, is Sirius, at 8.6 light years. There are a few other stars closer than Sirius, but all too dim to be seen without binoculars at least.

Answer 2

It's called Proxima Centauri, but you can only see if from the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, South America) and it's not very bright at all - it's very close, but small and dim.

Answer 3

First, there's the sun. Then, there's Proxima Centauri; it's the closest start that is outside of our solar system.

Answer 4

if you saw the sun in the night sky, i want some of what you had

Answer 5

Sun...