Alpha Centauri A is the second closest star to Earth and the closest star out of our solar system. The Alpha Centauri system is a binary star system just 4.3 light years away from our own. In 2012 astronomers announced that the system had a planet, which they dubbed Alpha Centauri Bb as it was apparently orbiting the smaller of the stars, Alpha Centauri B. The team said it was a rocky world slightly more massive than Earth. Alpha Centauri A is a few scales larger than our sun.
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Binary systems are systems where two stars orbit their common barycenter, Which in this case consists of Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri B (The two stars) Orbiting Alpha Centauri A (The barycenter). Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star much like our sun, Alpha Centauri B is an orange star, and Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf roughly seven times smaller than our sun. All three stars are around 4.85 billion years old, making them slightly older than the sun, which is around 4.6 billion years old.
Alpha Centauri is located in the southern part of the sky’s dome, and so is not visible beyond 29 degrees north from northern latitudes, including most of the USA. In America, the line of visibility runs close to Houston and Orlando, but even from as far south as the Florida Keys, Alpha Centauri only rises a few degrees above the horizon, which makes it difficult to observe in all but the darkest of skies. In much of the southern hemisphere, however, Alpha Centauri is circumpolar and never sets, such that it can be viewed the whole year round near the Southern Cross. (I live in the southern hemisphere so lucky me).
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lpha Centauri is located in the constellation of Centaurus, which is believed to represent a wise centaur from Greek mythology who featured in the lives and times of Jason and Heracles. As the tale states, Heracles killed the centaur by mistake, which resulted in Zeus placing him amongst the stars, with Alpha Centauri marking the Centaur’s right front hoof.
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It is known, however, that Alpha Centauri featured strongly in ancient Egypt, where many temples to various deities were built to have their principal features aligning with the point on the horizon where the star rose. Alpha Centauri was also known to the ancient Chinese, who knew it as the “Second Star of the Southern Gate”, whilst amongst the Australian Boorong people the star together with Epsilon Centauri was known as “Bermbermgle”, in reference to two brave brothers who slayed the Emu, represented by the Coal Sack nebula in the nearby Crux constellation (Also known as the southern cross).
Orbiting around Alpha Centauri B is an unconfirmed exoplanet named Alpha Centauri Bb, which if verified would make it the closest planet discovered outside of our own solar system. Scientist believe it is most likely tidally locked with one side permanently facing Alpha Centauri B, and have concluded life is unlikely under the planets severe conditions, since it is closer to it's star than Mercury.
