Proxima Centauri (
Latin , meaning "next to" or "nearest to") is a
red dwarf star about 4.24
light-years from the
Sun, inside the
G-cloud, in the
constellation of
Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer
Robert Innes, the Director of the
Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the
nearest known star to the
Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye, with an
apparent magnitude of 11.05. Its distance to the second- and third-nearest stars, which form the bright
binary Alpha Centauri, is 0.237 ± 0.011 ly (15,000 ± 700
AU). Proxima Centauri is very likely part of a triple star system with Alpha Centauri A and B, but its
orbital period may be greater than 500,000 years.