What is the distance to the star system of Alpha Centauri? Is it possible to fly to Alpha Centauri?

Alpha Centauri - the purpose of flights of spacecraft in many works belonging to the genre of science fiction. This closest to us star refers to the heavenly figure embodying the legendary centaur Chiron, according to Greek mythology, the former teacher of Hercules and Achilles.

Modern researchers, like writers, tirelessly return to the idea of this star system, because it is not only the first candidate for a long space expedition, but also a possible possessor of a populated planet.

Structure

Star system Alpha Centauri includes three space objects: two stars with the same name and designations A and B, as well as the Centaurus Proxima. For similar stars, the close arrangement of the two components is characteristic and the remote one is the third one. Proxima is just the last. The distance to Alpha Centauri with all its elements is about 4.3 light years. There are no stars closer to the Earth at the moment. In this case, the fastest way to fly to Proxima: we are separated only 4.22 light years.

Solar Relatives

Alpha Centauri A and B differ from the companion not only by the distance to the Earth. They, unlike Proxima, are similar in many respects to the Sun. Alpha Centauri A or Rigel Centaurus (translated as "the centaur's leg") is a brighter component of the pair. Toliman A, as this star is also called, is a yellow dwarf. From the Earth it is perfectly visible, since it has zero magnitude. This parameter makes it the fourth in the list of the brightest points of the night sky. The size of the object almost also coincides with the solar one.

The star of Alpha Centauri B is inferior to our luminary by mass (approximately 0.9 of the values of the corresponding parameter of the Sun). It refers to the objects of the first stellar magnitude, and the level of its luminosity is approximately half that of the main star of our piece of the Galaxy. The distance between two neighboring companions is 23 astronomical units, that is, they are located 23 times farther apart than the Earth from the Sun. Toliman A and Toliman V revolve around one center of mass with a period of 80 years.

The recent discovery

Scientists, as already mentioned, have high hopes for finding life in the vicinity of the Alpha Centauri star. The planets presumably existing here may resemble the Earth in a manner similar to how the components of the system themselves resemble our star. Until recently, however, there were no such cosmic bodies near the star. Distance does not allow you to directly observe the planet. Obtaining evidence of the existence of a land-like object became possible only with the improvement of technology.

Using the method of radial velocities, scientists were able to detect very small Toliman B oscillations arising from the gravitational forces of a planet orbiting it. Thus, evidence was obtained for the existence of at least one similar object in the system. Fluctuations caused by the planet are manifested as a displacement of 51 cm per second forward and then back. In the conditions of the Earth, such a movement, even of the largest body, would be very noticeable. However, at a distance of 4.3 light-years, the detection of such an oscillation seems impossible. Nevertheless, it was registered.

Sister of the Earth

The planet found circulates around Alpha Centauri V in 3.2 days. It is located very close to the star: the radius of the orbit is ten times smaller than the corresponding parameter typical of Mercury. The mass of this space object is close to the terrestrial and is about 1.1 of the mass of the Blue Planet. On this similarity ends: a close location, according to scientists, suggests that the emergence of life on the planet is impossible. The energy of the luminary, reaching its surface, heats it too much.

The nearest

The third component of the star system, making the whole constellation famous, is Alpha Centauri C or Proxima Centauri. The name of the cosmic body in translation means "nearest". Proxima stands from its companions at a distance of 13,000 light-years. It is an object of the eleventh magnitude magnitude, a red dwarf, small (about 7 times smaller than the Sun) and very dim. It is impossible to see it with the naked eye. Proxima is characterized by a "restless" state: the star is able to change its brightness twice in a few minutes. The reason for this "behavior" in the internal processes occurring in the bowels of the dwarf.

Dual position

Proxima for a long time was considered the third element of the Alpha Centauri system, making a turn around pairs A and B in about 500 years. However, recently the opinion is gaining strength that the red dwarf does not have anything to do with them, and the interaction of the three cosmic bodies is a temporary phenomenon.

The reason for doubts was the data saying that a close-knit pair of stars does not have enough gravitational pull to keep Proxima. Received in the early 90-ies of the last century, the information needed for a long time needed additional confirmation. Recent observations and calculations of scientists did not give an unambiguous answer. Under the assumptions, Proxima can still be part of the triple system and move around a common gravitational center. In this case, its orbit should resemble an elongated oval, and the furthest point from the center is the one in which the star is observed now.

Projects

Whatever it was, namely to Proxima it is planned to fly first, when it becomes possible. The journey to Alpha Centauri with the current level of development of space technology can last more than 1000 years. Such a time interval is simply unthinkable, because scientists are actively engaged in the search for options for its reduction.

A team of NASA researchers, led by Harold White, is developing the "Speed" project, which should result in a new engine. Its feature will be the ability to overcome the speed of light, so that the flight from Earth to the nearest star will be only two weeks. Such a miracle of technology will become a real masterpiece of close-knit work of theoretical physicists and experimenters. So far, however, a ship that overcomes the speed of light is a matter of the future. According to Mark Millis, who once worked at NASA, such technologies, provided the current speed of progress, will become a reality no earlier than two hundred years. Reduction of the deadline is possible only if an opening is made, capable of radically changing the existing ideas about space flights.

Now, Proxima Centauri and her companions remain an ambitious goal, unattainable in the near future. Technique, nevertheless, is constantly being improved, and new information about the characteristics of the stellar system is evident to that. Already today, scientists can do much of what 40-50 years ago they never dreamed of.