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Last Post 10/27/2017 7:27 AM by Terry Kucera

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Sherre S

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10/27/2017 5:50 AM
hi, whats the nearest star to earth thats almost exactly like our own sun?

Terry Kucera

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10/27/2017 7:27 AM
Hi Sherre, The closest star system to the Sun is Alpha Centauri. It is about 4.3 light years (25 trillion miles) away. You can read more about it here http://earthsky.org/brigh...-nearest-bright-star It is made up of three stars. One of them (Alpha Centauri C) is noticeably smaller than the Sun, but the other two are pretty close in size - Alpha Centauri A is only 10% more massive than the Sun and is in the same stellar class (G2) and Alpha Centauri B is about 10% less massive than the Sun and a bit redder. Of course Alpha Centauri A and B are not exactly like the Sun, but they are pretty close. The fact they are in a multiple star system makes them different too. The closest star of the same class as the Sun that is not in a multiple star system is Tau Ceti, which is about 11.9 light years away (about 70 trillion miles). Best, Terry