Riger Kenttaurus (or called Alpha Centuri) is the brightest star in the constellation of Centuri viewed from the solar system. and the third brightest star in the night from Earth. For a long period of time, it was misunderstood to be one star or dazzling double star. But with the improvement in instruments for astronomy, it was finally revealed that Riger Kenttaurus was made up of three stars, which is quite rare among the stars discovered in the universe. In most case, larger object(s) will engulf smaller ones in the early age, and it is a rare case that three stars of different masses can continue to exist and maintain a balance among them.
In comparing the absolute brightness of stars, Riger Kenttaurus is not ranked very high. The main reason of why it is the third brightest in the night sky is that it is the star closest to our solar system (around 4.2 lightyear).
Being the closest star (sun) to us away from the solar system, Riger Kenttaurus is widely used in SF stories, novels and movies around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment