Day 1: Alpha Centauri Multiple Star System

Alpha Centauri AB in contrast with Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri 3)

Alpha Centauri A and B

Icarus at the Edge of Time, a book related to Alpha Centauri.

          The other night, I was looking over my bookshelf when I stumbled upon a favorite of mine; Icarus at the Edge of Time. It's a classic tale of disobedience and ignorance towards one's parents. It's about a boy named Icarus who was born into a multi-generational spacecraft and flew away in a separate spaceship towards a black hole. In hopes of seizing the rare opportunity of observing it up close, Icarus, despite his father's warnings, ignorantly got a bit too close and became trapped in the warped space-time. When he returned to where the main spacecraft initially was, he found himself surrounded by thousands of spaceships that weren't his. After boarding one and conversing with a pilot, he discovered that he was 5,000 years into the future, and that his family was long gone.

          This book reminded me of the multiple star system, Alpha Centauri, because of the spaceship's name, Proxima Centauri. A multiple star system consists of three or more stars which orbit each other, bound by a gravitational attraction. Alpha Centauri consists of three stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, and a red-dwarf star, Alpha Centauri C, also known as Proxima Centauri. Placed at only 4.2 light years aways, Proxima Centauri is best known as being the second closest star to Earth, the first being the Sun. When put in perspective, the Sun is much larger than Proxima Centauri. The Sun's diameter is 7 times that of Proxima Centauri's, and the Sun's mass is 8 times as great.

          Alpha Centauri A is the brightest star in the Southern constellation of Centaurus. Along with Proxima Centauri, it's properties are much different than the Sun's. It's mass is 110% that of the Sun's and it's luminosity is 151.9% that of the Sun's. Alpha Centauri B, on the other hand, has only 90.7% of the Sun's mass and 50% of it's luminosity.
          These stars have been a wonder since 1915, and to this day still gain loads of attention. They are among some of the most commonly known stars, and scientists plan to someday be able to venture to Alpha Centauri and see for themselves how amazing these stars truly are.