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The Distance to Alpha Centauri

We can measure interstellar distances, but can we really grasp them? The distance to the nearest stars is so immense that even the scientists who study such things have resorted to homely comparisons. The most charming to my mind is that of the English astronomer Sir...

Quantifying the Centauri Stream

The timescales we talk about on Centauri Dreams always catch up with me in amusing ways. As in a new paper out of Western University (London, Ontario), in which astrophysicists Cole Gregg and Paul Wiegert discuss the movement of materials from Alpha Centauri into...

Braking at Centauri: A Bound Orbit at Proxima?

One of the great problems of lightsail concepts for interstellar flight is the need to decelerate. Here I’m using lightsail as opposed to ‘solar sail’ in the emerging consensus that a solar sail is one that reflects light from our star, and is thus usable within the...

Modeling a Habitable Planet at Centauri A/B

Why is it so difficult to detect planets around Alpha Centauri? Proxima Centauri is one thing; we’ve found interesting worlds there, though this small, dim star has been a tough target, examined through decades of steadily improving equipment. But Centauri A and B,...

TOLIMAN Targets Centauri A/B Planets

We talked about the TOLIMAN mission last April, and the renewed interest in astrometry as the key to ferreting out possible planets around Alpha Centauri A and B. I was fortunate enough to hear Peter Tuthill (University of Sydney), who leads the team that has been...