This chart ranks the nearest known star systems to the Sun by distance in light-years. Proxima Centauri, part of the Alpha Centauri system, is our closest stellar neighbour.

About: Nearest Stars to the Sun

Overview of the data behind this chart

This chart ranks the nearest known star systems to the Sun by distance in light-years. Proxima Centauri, part of the Alpha Centauri system, is our closest stellar neighbour.

AI Insight

Proxima Centauri, at 4.25 light-years, is the closest star to the Sun, narrowly ahead of the main Alpha Centauri pair (4.34 light-years) to which it is loosely bound. Even this nearest neighbour is so remote that light, travelling at 300,000 km per second, takes more than four years to reach us. Barnard's Star (5.96) is the next closest, and most of the remaining neighbours, Wolf 359, Lalande 21185, Ross 154 and Ross 248, are faint red dwarfs invisible to the naked eye. Sirius (8.71), the brightest star in our sky, is a notable exception, being both relatively close and intrinsically luminous. The tight span from 4.25 to 10.47 light-years underlines how sparse stars really are, with vast stretches of empty space separating even the closest suns.

Data source: List of nearest stars

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Epsilon Eridani leads with 10 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 8 · median: 9.

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Gap in All Time: Epsilon Eridani is 2.5× larger than Proxima Centauri.

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Nearest Stars to the Sun

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

10 categories · 1 year

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Top Value

10.47

Epsilon Eridani

Distance from the Sun (light-years) · All Time

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Metrics

Distance from the Sun (light-years)

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Period

All Time

Single year snapshot

Category Rankings

Distance from the Sun (light-years) · All Time

#	Category	All Time
🥇	Epsilon Eridani	10.47
🥈	Ross 248	10.31
🥉	Ross 154	9.71
4	Luyten 726-8	8.77
5	Sirius	8.71
6	Lalande 21185	8.30
7	Wolf 359	7.86
8	Barnard's Star	5.96
9	Alpha Centauri	4.34
10	Proxima Centauri	4.25

Statistical Summary — Distance from the Sun (light-years) · All Time

10.47

Maximum

4.25

Minimum

Average

Median

What This Data Shows

Auto-generated trend summaries per category

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Proxima Centauri

Recorded 4.25 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Alpha Centauri

Recorded 4.34 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Barnard's Star

Recorded 5.96 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Wolf 359

Recorded 7.86 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Lalande 21185

Recorded 8.30 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Sirius

Recorded 8.71 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Luyten 726-8

Recorded 8.77 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Ross 154

Recorded 9.71 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Ross 248

Recorded 10.31 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

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Epsilon Eridani

Recorded 10.47 Distance from the Sun (light-years) in All Time.

Source

Full Data Table

10 records across 1 year

10 sourced

Category	Metric	All Time
Proxima Centauri	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	4.25
Alpha Centauri	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	4.34
Barnard's Star	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	5.96
Wolf 359	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	7.86
Lalande 21185	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	8.30
Sirius	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	8.71
Luyten 726-8	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	8.77
Ross 154	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	9.71
Ross 248	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	10.31
Epsilon Eridani	Distance from the Sun (light-years)	10.47