Aster › Space program › Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri
Position on the route: 95/130 · level needed 980 · journey (Mk0 engine) 293.3 h
By the numbers
| Distance | 4.37 light-years |
|---|---|
| Members | A, B and Proxima |
| Brightness | ≈ 1.5 and ≈ 0.5 Suns (A, B) |
| Orbit | A–B: 80 years |
The story
Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system to the Sun (4.37 light-years) and, with its two components together, the third brightest star in the night sky. It is made of two Sun-like stars (A and B), a pair circling each other in 80 years, and, far away, the red dwarf Proxima. Proxima b is this system’s planet.
Breakthrough Starshot proposes accelerating gram-sized light-sail probes with lasers to reach the system in about twenty years. In the game this is humanity’s first interstellar target.
Missions
- Breakthrough Starshot (concept)
- Hubble and JWST observations
Colony note
A star has no surface; only an orbital station, Mk2 shield.
☠ A star: no surface. Only a station in orbit, in the light of the double star.
What probes bring back
- 4.37 light-years: the nearest star system to the Sun, made of A and B (Sun-like) and a third member, Proxima.
- Breakthrough Starshot proposes accelerating gram-sized light-sail probes with lasers to reach the system in about twenty years.