From the ones that are the nearest, to the ones that are high in potential for life,
and more! Join me as I show you 10 of the Closest Stars To The sun!
Prologue: Our Sun Before diving into these stars, let's briefly
talk about our own. Our sun is without a doubt the most important thing in our solar system
for a whole host of reasons. Not the least of which is because it's what keeps us "together"
in our orbits via its powerful gravity. What's more, it provides us with heat, with light,
and these two things are a major reason why Earth has life on it at all.
Its size is large, but because of its distance, we don't have to fear (overtly anyway) its
powerful radiation bursts, or solar flares. And because of its relatively young age, we're
not in danger of the sun swallowing us up for a couple billion years.
Yet when you look out at the sky at night, you see all the many different stars out there,
and you can't help but wonder, what are some of them like? Are they like our sun? What
do they do for the systems they're in? Well, allow me to share some details with you about
that, as you might be surprised as to what's out there.
10. Ross 128 Our first star that we're going to look at
is Ross 128, which is about 11 light years from where we are right now. Unlike our own
star, Ross 128 is a Red Dwarf star, which means it's not only smaller than our own sun,
but it doesn't burn as bright. Thus, it doesn't give off as much heat. In regards to its size,
it's actually only 15% of the mass of our own sun. Which is not that big when you consider
it. However, the thing that really differentiates
Ross 128 from our sun is the fact that it's much older. An analysis of the gasses within
the Red Dwarf point to it being over 10 billion years old. Which means it's only 4 billion
years younger than the entire universe. Which in contest is not that long. Plus, that's
just the age of our own sun. What might surprise you though is that this
star does indeed have a planet orbiting it called Ross 128-B. But, this planet is actually
a little bit bigger than Earth based on certain estimates. But is it a planet that is worth
exploring and possibly colonizing one day/ That is a bit up for debate at the moment.
You see, Ross 128-B is very close to the Red Dwarf, and yet, appears to be JUST in the
habitable zone for life to exist in. But...Red Dwarfs are known to have solar flares that
can ravage atmospheres and planets, though that doesn't seem to be the case here due
to age. The real problem though is that the planet
appears to be tidally locked. Meaning that the planet is always facing the sun on one
side, and thus doesn't cool down on that side. This could cause problems.
Either way though, with it being 11 light years away, we won't be able to reach it until
various spacecraft are able to travel deeper into space.
9. Epsilon Eridani One of the interesting things about this star
right off the bat is that if you know where to look, you can see it in the night sky.
What's more, you can see it in the sky without the aid of a telescope. Part of the reason
for this is that it's only 10.5 light years away from us, which means it's closer than
Ross 128. The other reasons for its visibility is that it's a rather young Orange Dwarf star.
By "young" I mean in the scale of stars, as this one is said to only be about 1 billion
years old, which is much younger than our own.
The catch though is that because of its youth allows for it to be a very intense star, including
having it be a star that has extreme solar winds. In terms of planets, there seems to
be large exoplanet orbiting around it. But we can't confirm that as of yet.
Just as curious though is that there seems to be not one but TWO different asteroid belts
in the system that Epsilon Eridani can be found in. As well as a large debris disk that
seems to have been made when the star was formed.
The star and its system has been referenced by many for its potential life it could have,
and ironically enough Orange Dwarf stars are stated to be ones that could potentially house
life if the planets next to them are the right type. But whether they actually come to that
is up for debate. Before we continue to show you a wide range
of stars, be sure to like or dislike the video, that way we can continue to improve and make
the best content for you the viewer! Also, subscribe to the channel so you don't miss
ANY of our weekly videos. 8. Luyten 726-8
Found 8.7 light years away from the sun, you'd think that Luyten 726-8 and the system it's
in would've been a very old discovery that astronomers found while researching the night
sky. But in fact, it wasn't discovered until 1948. Which goes to show that even with great
technology, it can take humanity a while to find certain things.
The system actually has a set of stars known as "Flare Stars" and they orbit each other
every 26 years. Just as curious though, the stars were once closer to our own sun, only
about 7 light years away. But the system slowly moved away.
Another curious thing is that one of the two stars in the system has been known to have
somewhat random and violent increases in light. Including being able to grow in brightness
by 75 times in just 20 seconds. Clearly this is a system that will be studied
for a while because of its unique stars and makeup.
7. Sirius Here is a star that you no doubt have heard
of for a variety of reasons, mainly because its name is rather popular and has inspired
a lot of names. But have you ever wondered why that was the case? The reason is very
simple, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. It's about 8.6 light years away
from us, but what really sets it apart, and sets it up to be so bright, is that it's part
of a binary star system. As if that wasn't enough, it's on a course that will get it
closer and closer to us over the next 200,000 years, which means that from our perspective,
the star will get brighter and brighter. The main star in the system is Sirius-A, a
blue star that is twice the size of our own sun. Sirius-B though is a White Dwarf, which
is what happens after a star goes through its Red Supergiant phase of life.
Despite all of this uniqueness, the two stars inhabit a system that is rather young, and
thus it's highly unlikely that life will be there for some time.
6. Teegarden's Star In 2019, a pair of planets were found 12.5
light years from Earth, and they were found to circle a star known as Teegarden. What
made these planets so noteworthy was that they seemed to be very Earth-like in nature.
"The two planets resemble the inner planets of our solar system," lead author Mathias
Zechmeister, a research scientist at the Institute for Astrophysics at the University of Göttingen
in Germany, said in a statement. "They are only slightly heavier than Earth and are located
in the so-called habitable zone, where water can be present in liquid form."
Research has obviously just begun on these two planets, but there is hope that they could
be the real deal. For example, usually the fact that this is a red dwarf star would be
a red-flag, as they don't produce as much heat and light. But, the two planets are actually
closer to the sun, so that actually would work in our favor.
This is the kind of star that gets scientists excited because it may be one that leads to
the finding of life, or possible planets for Earth to inhabit.
5. Lalande 21185 Heading to another Red Dwarf out in the universe,
we turn our attention to Lalande 21185, which is about 8.3 light years away from us. But,
like other stars on this list, it's moving in a way that'll put it much closer to the
Earth over time. In about 100,000 years it's believed that it'll be around 4 light years
away when it "passes by us". The star was found in the early 1800's, but
has had a lot of different labels thrown at it over the years, including it being a "Variable
Star" at one point, of which it isn't as it's known to be much calmer than that.
The biggest question about this system ironically enough is not about it star, but rather, the
potential planets. Over the course of many decades, scientists have claimed and then
refuted the potential for planets of any kind in the system. Then, one seems to be found...and
refuted again. This has happened so much that people don't
know what to think. 4. Wolf 359
Despite having an epic name (because wolves are epic, that's scientifically accurate!),
Wolf 359 is known as a star where "science-fiction meets reality). Why? Because it became famous
in a legendary episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. It was the setpiece of a battle
between the Federation and the Borg. This star was "chosen" because it was during
when the Borg were on their way to Earth to assimilate it, and thus a "last stand" of
sorts was setup. But make no mistake, the star is real, and it's cool in its own right.
It's part of the Leo constellation and is only 8 light years from us, and despite being
a Red Dwarf, it's a star that has a convection cycle that'll allow it to last for trillions
of years. Add that to the potential for life via a couple of exoplanets that are around
it, and you have yourself a star worthy of study.
As for why it's called Wolf 359, that would be because of the German Astronomer Max Wolf
(also an epic name) who made a catalogue of certain types of stars, and this one just
so happened to be entry No. 359. 3. Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti is a very curious entry on this list, mainly because it has a lot of similarities
to our own sun. For example, Tau Ceti is only about 20% smaller than our sun, which is better
than some we've detailed before. What's more, the star has a similar Type-G classification,
which is what our own sun has. Granted, it's a bit farther than the other stars on this
list, as it's 12 light years away, but it makes up for that in that it's incredible
calm and stable. In fact, it's more stable than our own star.
Because of that, and other factors, many scientists have looked at Tau Ceti and wondered if life
is present there. Currently...we don't know. The system does seem to have planets, including
a few in the Habitable Zone, however, when it comes to trying to get signals from this
area, there are problems because the system is incredibly "dusty". Meaning that there
are a lot of rocks in the solar system that hurt signals.
Still, the potential is there, and many scientists are looking into making sure that they don't
miss something here, especially since it could be a place to colonize in the future.
2. Scholz's Star You might think that Scholz's Star is one
that we wouldn't pay much attention to, especially since it's 22 light years away from Earth,
and thus not exactly close range. And yet, you would be wrong. Because the reason this
star is on this list is that it appears that we've already interacted with it once upon
a time. And by "we", we mean the solar system. The star was discovered by astronomers in
2013, but by 2015 they revealed that the star had passed through our oort cloud about 70,000
years ago. The system that the star is in is yet another
Binary system. The main star is a red dwarf while the second is a brown dwarf star.
Many astronomers wonder what exactly the star/stars did when it passed through the Oort Cloud
all those years ago, and whether it would be one that could cause damage in the rippling
way. But many speculate that by the time the damage is done, Earth will be long abandoned.
1. Alpha Centauri/Proxima Centauri If you were to ask the question of what is
the closest star to our solar system, you would be told that the system known as Alpha
Centauri, and that would be correct. Located just over 4 light years from Earth (in terms
of its closest star), the system has three stars known as Alpha Centauri A & B and Proxima
Centauri. Though technically A&B are known as Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman.
This system has been a focus for mankind for some time. Especially in the realm of wanting
to explore space and wanting to colonize other worlds. Though a three-star system isn't what
you'd expect us to go to, they do have planets there, and many believe that at least one
of these planets (mainly Proxima B) is the next Earth. Plus, one of the stars is very
much like our own sun, just a little bit bigger. The research continues on the stars and the
planets, and while it would still take time to make it possible to live there...we can't
deny the potential. Thanks for watching! What did you think of
this look at the various stars in space and how they relate to our own sun? Does this
list help you appreciate our sun more, including what it does for us to keep Earth going? Which
of these other stars did you find the most impressive of the bunch? Let me know in the
comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on the channel!