Wolf 359 - the red dwarf of Leo Constellation

Wolf 359 is the name of the red dwarf that is located in the Leo Constellation, near ecliptic. Discovered by the German astronomer Max Wolf in 1917 the star has a distance of approximately 7.8 light years from the earth and can be seen with the help of a large telescope. This red dwarf is one of the nearest star to our solar system other than the Alpha Centuari and Proximal Centuari.

This star is one of the faintest and lowest-mass stars known. At the light emitting layer called the photosphere, it has a temperature of about about 2800k. Some of the chemical compunds may survive at this level of temperature. It has a stronger magnetic field than the Sun itself.

The most intersting fact about Wolf 359 is that, due to its magnetic activity, it is a flare star that has a change in luminosity for several minutes. These flares emit strong gamma ray radiation that hav been observed by telescopes. These radiation levels are stronger enough to blast a monster like Hulk.

Comparative size of Wolf 359 with Sun.

But the Wolf 359 is relatively young star with an age of less than billion years(younger than the earth than the earth). Its orbit has no debris or disks lik that of saturn.It is moving away from the Sun at a velocity of 19km/s. Approximately 13,850 years ago, the star was only 7.35 light yrs away from the Sun.

Alpha Centauri - The Brightest Star in the Centaurus Constellation

There are countless stars and innumerable number of constellations in the space. Have you ever wondered about the brightest star in the sky ? The brightest star of the Centaurus constellation is the Alpha Centauri. Although the star appears to be a single object to an unaided eye, it is actually a binary star system.


The Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B make up this star system. The Alpha Centauri A 110% of the mass and the Alpha Centauri B has 90.7% of Sun's mass. 
During the pairs 79.91 year orbit about a common center, the distance between them varies from about that between Pluto and the Sun to that between Saturn and the Sun.

The distance between Sun and Alpha Centauri is 4.37 light years. The Third star Proxima Centauri is gravitationally associated with Alpha Centauri AB. proxima is at slightly amaller distance of 4.24 light years from the Sun, making it closest Star to the Sun though not visible to naked eye.