- Stars with a name
- Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri
HIP 70890
Proxima Centauri is a red star, in the constellation Centaurus. The light you see from it tonight left it around 2022.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it never rises: it belongs to the southern sky.
Very faint: you’ll need a telescope. Apparent magnitude 11.01.
What it’s like
Its surface temperature is about 3,100 degrees Celsius.
It is 4.2 light years away: 40 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 2022: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.