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Technically speaking, the sun is the closest star to Earth. <br /> . <br /> The next closest known star to the Earth is <b><i>Proxima Centauri</i></b>, red dwarf star<br />approximately 4.2 light years from Earth ... only about 278,000 times as far<br />from us as the Sun is. See the related link below for further information about<br />Proxima Centauri. <br /> .
Proxima Centauri-Type= M5, Magnitude=11.0, Distance=4.22 ly. This dim red dwarf is the nearest star to the Sun, and it is a member of the Alpha Centauri system despite lying 0.24 light years from the main pair of stars, requiring over one million years to orbit them. Proxima was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and was at that time the least luminous star known.