Star
Alpha Centauri A
Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star 4.32 light-years away, one of the nearest there are, seen as it was 4 years ago, shining 2 times as bright as the Sun.
The larger of the nearest pair of stars to the Sun, 1.1 times the Sun's mass. To the eye, it and B are one star, the third-brightest in the sky.
See it live
It is on the live 3D map, where it really is.
Key facts
- Distance
- 4.32 light-years
- Brightness from Earth
- magnitude −0.01
- Spectral type
- G2V
- Catalogue
- HIP 71683
See it from here
Bright enough to see with your own eyes from a dark place.
How the map draws it
Drawn as a point of light, sized by how bright it looks from where you are — the kind of thing, not this exact one.