Starship Asterisk*

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Shining brightly in this Hubble image is our closest stellar neighbour: Proxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun.

However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a “flare star”, meaning that convection processes within the star’s body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged — or a “main sequence” star in astronomical terms — for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current Universe.

These observations were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system — its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame.

Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbour, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble’s eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the Universe around us.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Ann wrote:
I have tried to find out what filters were used for this image, but I have been unsuccessful.

Colours & filters

Band		 Wavelength	Telescope
Infrared
I (orange) 	814 nm 	HST/WFPC2
Optical
R (cyan)   	675 nm 	HST/WFPC2

geckzilla wrote:

As if we can observe CME's from any star other than our own!

Beyond wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:
Yuck

Now that is a scientific term with Great meaning, that hardly anyone would have trouble understanding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Yuk wrote:

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

<<Mr. Yuk is a trademarked graphic image, created by the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and widely employed in the United States in labeling of substances that are poisonous if ingested. In order to help children learn to avoid ingesting poisons, Mr. Yuk was conceived by Dr. Richard Moriarty, a pediatrician and clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who founded the Pittsburgh Poison Center and the National Poison Center Network. In Pittsburgh, the skull and crossbones previously used was not terribly helpful, because the Jolly Roger was the mascot for the local baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. The color was chosen when Moriarty was showing different colors to students, and the green that was chosen was christened "Yucky!" by a young child. Hence, the name and the color. The design for Mr. Yuk was created by Wendy Courtney Brown, then a 4th grade student at Liberty Elementary in Weirton, West Virginia, as part of a Pittsburgh Poison Control design contest.>>

Chris Peterson wrote:Yuck

rstevenson wrote:I find this an odd way to show Proxima Centauri to its adoring public. As they say on the linked page, "Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbor, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble's eagle-eyed vision, ... ." So why do they offer us a huge bright blob and flare instead? Surely a shorter exposure could have rendered the star in a somewhat more realistic way, if not as just a point.

rstevenson wrote:
Yes, I have other pictures of Proxima Centauri on hand, but I was commenting on that particular Hubble picture, just released by hubblesite.org.

rstevenson wrote:
I find this an odd way to show Proxima Centauri to its adoring public. As they say on the linked page, "Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbor, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble's eagle-eyed vision, ... ." So why do they offer us a huge bright blob and flare instead? Surely a shorter exposure could have rendered the star in a somewhat more realistic way, if not as just a point.

hubblesite.org/newscenter wrote:

NOVEMBER 1, 2013: Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of the Hubble Space Telescope, as you might expect from the nearest star to the solar system, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun. These observations were taken using Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in 1996. Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame.