The Nearest Stars

compiled by C. Anderson, S. Clegg, and T. Studebaker
25 June 1997

This page was inspired by the release of data from the HIPPARCOS satellite, whose unprecedented astrometric accuracy will undoubtedly change and improve our understanding of the Universe for years to come. At the very least, it has given us a more accurate picture of the distribution of stars in the immediate vicinity of the Sun. The following table gives our current best estimates of the distances to our nearest stellar neighbors in the galaxy.
 
RANK STAR NAME DISTANCE (l.y.) RANGE SOURCE
1 Proxima Centauri 4.2231 4.2100-4.2364 HIPPARCOS
2 a Centauri A 4.3950 4.3867-4.4033 HIPPARCOS
3 a Centauri B 4.3950 4.3867-4.4033 HIPPARCOS
4 Barnard's Star 5.9409 5.9239-5.9580 HIPPARCOS
5 Wolf 359 7.782 7.744-7.822 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
6 BD+36°2147 8.3120 8.2927-8.3313 HIPPARCOS
7 Sirius A 8.6011 8.5654-8.6371 HIPPARCOS
8 Sirius B 8.6011 (HIPPARCOS)
9 L726-8A 8.728 8.665-8.791 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
10 L726-8B 8.728 (Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes)
11 Ross 154 9.6934 9.6412-9.7461 HIPPARCOS
12 Ross 248 10.32 10.29-10.36 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
13 e Eridani 10.496 10.467-10.525 HIPPARCOS
14(27) CD-36°15693 10.733 10.702-10.763 HIPPARCOS
15(14) Ross 128 10.887 10.808-10.968 HIPPARCOS
16(15) L789-6A 11.27 11.10-11.44 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
17(16) L789-6B 11.27 (Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes)
18 61 Cygni A 11.359 11.300-11.419 HIPPARCOS
19(20) Procyon A 11.407 11.372-11.442 HIPPARCOS
20(21) Procyon B 11.407 (HIPPARCOS)
21(19) 61 Cygni B 11.427 11.399-11.456 HIPPARCOS
22(23) BD+59°1915B 11.465 11.267-11.671 HIPPARCOS
23(22) BD+59°1915A 11.637 11.531-11.745 HIPPARCOS
24(25) BD+43°44A 11.637 11.594-11.681 HIPPARCOS
25(26) BD+43°44B 11.637 (HIPPARCOS) 
26(17) e Indi 11.828 11.798-11.857 HIPPARCOS
27(28) G51-15 11.83 11.70-11.96 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
28(24) t Ceti 11.896 11.862-11.931 HIPPARCOS
29 L725-32 12.123 11.791-12.474 HIPPARCOS
30 BD+05°1688 12.389 12.322-12.457 HIPPARCOS
31(32) Kapteyn's Star 12.778 12.735-12.821 HIPPARCOS
32(31) CD-39°14192 12.873 12.816-12.931 HIPPARCOS
33 Krüger 60 A 13.072 12.914-13.232 HIPPARCOS
34 Krüger 60 B 13.072 (HIPPARCOS)
35(36) Ross 614 A 13.428 13.284-13.576 HIPPARCOS
36(37) Ross 614 B 13.428 (HIPPARCOS)
37 L 622-8A 13.865 12.658-15.326 HIPPARCOS
38 L 622-8B 13.865 (HIPPARCOS)
39(35) BD-12°4253 13.908 13.801-14.017 HIPPARCOS
40(46) CD-37°15492 14.222 14.156-14.290 HIPPARCOS
41 CCDM 03221-1316 14.340 11.277-19.689 HIPPARCOS
42 Wolf 424A 14.31 14.03-14.61 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
43 Wolf 424B 14.31 (Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes)
44(38) van Maanen's Star 14.372 14.040-14.718 HIPPARCOS
45(41) L1159-16 14.51 14.32-14.70 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
46(42) L143-23 14.67 13.95-15.44 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
47(49) CD-46°11540 14.707 14.688-14.907 HIPPARCOS
48 BD+68°946 14.768 14.707-14.880 HIPPARCOS
49(43) LP 731-58 14.81 14.57-15.05 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
50(44) G208-45 14.81 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
51(45) G208-44 14.81 14.75-14.88 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
52(47) L145-141 15.072 14.927-15.221 HIPPARCOS
53(51) G158-27 15.31 15.06-15.58 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
54(52) BD-15°6290 15.335 15.185-15.488 HIPPARCOS
55(59) BD+44°2051A 15.761 15.671-15.852 HIPPARCOS
56(60) BD+44°2051B 15.761 (HIPPARCOS) 
57(56) BD+50°1725 15.893 15.831-15.956 HIPPARCOS
58 BD+20°2465 15.94 15.73-16.16 Yale Catalog of Trig. Parallaxes
59(50) CD-49°13515 16.104 15.999-16.211 HIPPARCOS
60(53) CD-44°11909 16.446 16.247-16.650 HIPPARCOS
61(55) s2 Eridani A 16.453 16.384-16.523 HIPPARCOS
62(56) s2 Eridani B 16.453 (HIPPARCOS)
63(57) s2 Eridani C 16.453 (HIPPARCOS)
64 BD+43°4305A 16.467 16.298-16.639 HIPPARCOS
65 BD+43°4305B 16.467 (HIPPARCOS)
66(61) 70 Ophiuchi A 16.588 16.473-16.706 HIPPARCOS
67(62) 70 Ophiuchi B 16.588 (HIPPARCOS)
68(63) Altair 16.774 16.694-16.856 HIPPARCOS
69(68) AC+79°3888 17.585 17.493-17.721 HIPPARCOS
(70)69 Gliese 229A 18.833 18.711-18.955 HIPPARCOS
71(70) Gliese 229B 18.833 (HIPPARCOS)
Explanatory Notes:

RANK indicates the order of proximity to the Sun, according to current best measurements. Numbers in parentheses indicate the ranking prior to the release of data from the HIPPARCOS satellite (June 1997).

DISTANCE is given in light years, with the number of significant digits indicative of the accuracy stated in the source catalog.

RANGE gives the minimum and maximum distances of the star according to the standard error of the stated parallax. In cases where the star was not measured directly but is part of a system whose primary was, no range is supplied.

SOURCE indicates the catalog from which parallax data were obtained, either the HIPPARCOS catalog, or the Fourth Yale Catalog of Trigonometric Parallaxes. In cases where the star is part of a system where only the primary was observed, the source catalog name is in parentheses.
 
The distances listed in the table above were determined by the method of parallax, illustrated at left. The orbit of the Earth around the Sun forms a baseline whose length is the diameter of the orbit. The average distance of the Earth from the Sun is one Astronomical Unit (AU), equal to 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles. As the Earth orbits the Sun, relatively nearby stars will seem to shift back and forth with respect to more distant stars. This shift is called parallax. If the difference in the star's position as seen from the Sun as compared to the Earth is 1 arc second (1/3600 degree), its distance is, by definition, 1 parsec. In reality, the nearest star (Proxima Centauri) has a parallax of 0.77233 arcsec, and is thus more than one parsec distant (1.2948 parsecs, to be exact). One parsec equals 3.261631 light years or 30,856,780,000,000 kilometers (19,173,510,000,000 miles).

Last updated 2 July 1997
Comments or questions? Email us: herrett@orion1.csi.cc.id.us