Future and Past
Ross 248, currently at a distance of 10.3 light-years, has a radial velocity of −81 km/s. In about 31,000 years it may be the closest star to the Sun for several millennia, with a minimum distance of 0.927 parsecs (3.02 light-years) in 36,000 years. Gliese 445, currently at a distance of 17.6 light-years, has a radial velocity of −119 km/s. In about 40,000 years it will be the closest star for a period of several thousand years.
Known Hipparcos stars that have or will pass within 5.1 light-years of the Sun within ±2 million years:
| Star Name |
HIP# |
Minimum distance in parsecs |
Minimum distance in light-years |
Approach date in kiloyears |
Current distance in parsecs |
Current distance in light-years |
Stellar classification |
Mass in M☉ |
Current apparent magnitude |
Constellation |
Right ascension |
Declination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gliese 710 | 89825 | 0.311 | 1.01 | 1447 | 19.3 | 62.9 | K7V | 0.4–0.6 | 9.6 | Serpens | 18h 19m 50.843s | −01° 56′ 18.98″ |
| Proxima Centauri | 70890 | 0.890 | 2.90 | 27.4 | 1.29 | 4.24 | M5Ve | 0.15 | 11.05 | Centaurus | 14h 29m 42.949s | −62° 40′ 46.14″ |
| Alpha Centauri A | 71683 | 0.910 | 2.97 | 28.4 | 1.338 | 4.36 | G2V | 1.100 | −0.01 | Centaurus | 14h 39m 36.495s | −60° 50′ 02.31″ |
| Alpha Centauri B | 71681 | 0.910 | 2.97 | 28.4 | 1.338 | 4.36 | K1V | 0.907 | 1.33 | Centaurus | 14h 39m 35.080s | −60° 50′ 13.76″ |
| AC+79 3888 | 57544 | 1.059 | 3.45 | 46.0 | 5.39 | 17.6 | M4 | 0.15? | 10.8 | Camelopardalis | 11h 47m 41.377s | +78° 41′ 28.18″ |
| Barnard's Star | 87937 | 1.148 | 3.74 | 9.8 | 1.834 | 5.98 | sdM4 | 0.144 | 9.54 | Ophiuchus | 17h 57m 48.498s | +04° 41′ 36.25″ |
| Zeta Leporis | 27288 | 1.275 | 4.16 | −861 | 21.5 | 70.2 | A2Vann | 2.0 | 3.55 | Lepus | 05h 46m 57.341s | −14° 49′ 19.02″ |
| Lalande 21185 | 54035 | 1.426 | 4.65 | 20.5 | 2.55 | 8.32 | M2V | 0.39 | 7.52 | Ursa Major | 11h 03m 20.194s | +35° 58′ 11.55″ |
| Gliese 208 | 26335 | 1.537 | 5.01 | −500 | 11.38 | 37.1 | K7 | 0.47 | 8.9 | Orion | 05h 36m 30.991s | +11° 19′ 40.32″ |
Read more about this topic: List Of Nearest Stars
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“For me chemistry represented an indefinite cloud of future potentialities which enveloped my life to come in black volutes torn by fiery flashes, like those which had hidden Mount Sinai. Like Moses, from that cloud I expected my law, the principle of order in me, around me, and in the world.... I would watch the buds swell in spring, the mica glint in the granite, my own hands, and I would say to myself: “I will understand this, too, I will understand everything.””
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)