Alpha Centauri
E439488
binary star system
exoplanet
main-sequence star
multiple star system
red dwarf
star
star system
triple star system
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Solar System, consisting of a triple-star arrangement that includes the Sun-like stars Alpha Centauri A and B and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.
All labels observed (10)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Proxima Centauri | 10 |
| Alpha Centauri canonical | 8 |
| Alpha Centauri system | 6 |
| Alpha Centauri star system | 3 |
| Alpha Centauri AB | 2 |
| Proxima Centauri system | 2 |
| "α Centauri" | 1 |
| Alpha Centauri A | 1 |
| Alpha Centauri A and B | 1 |
| Alpha Centauri B | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4410487 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Alpha Centauri Context triple: [Project Longshot, targetStarSystem, Alpha Centauri]
-
A.
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star is a nearby red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus, notable for its proximity to Earth and its high proper motion, making it a prime candidate for interstellar mission concepts.
-
B.
Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti is a nearby Sun-like star in the constellation Cetus, notable for its stability, potential planetary system, and historical importance as an early target in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
-
C.
Epsilon Eridani
Epsilon Eridani is a nearby young K-type main-sequence star in the constellation Eridanus, notable for its debris disk and status as a prominent target in exoplanet and SETI searches.
-
D.
Alpha Crucis
Alpha Crucis is the brightest star in the Southern Cross constellation and one of the key stars depicted on the Australian national flag.
-
E.
Alpha Capricorni
Alpha Capricorni is a bright multiple star system in the constellation Capricornus, visible to the naked eye as a single star but actually composed of two widely separated components.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Alpha Centauri Target entity description: Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Solar System, consisting of a triple-star arrangement that includes the Sun-like stars Alpha Centauri A and B and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.
-
A.
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star is a nearby red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus, notable for its proximity to Earth and its high proper motion, making it a prime candidate for interstellar mission concepts.
-
B.
Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti is a nearby Sun-like star in the constellation Cetus, notable for its stability, potential planetary system, and historical importance as an early target in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
-
C.
Epsilon Eridani
Epsilon Eridani is a nearby young K-type main-sequence star in the constellation Eridanus, notable for its debris disk and status as a prominent target in exoplanet and SETI searches.
-
D.
Alpha Crucis
Alpha Crucis is the brightest star in the Southern Cross constellation and one of the key stars depicted on the Australian national flag.
-
E.
Alpha Capricorni
Alpha Capricorni is a bright multiple star system in the constellation Capricornus, visible to the naked eye as a single star but actually composed of two widely separated components.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (53)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
binary star system
ⓘ
exoplanet ⓘ main-sequence star ⓘ main-sequence star ⓘ multiple star system ⓘ red dwarf ⓘ star ⓘ star ⓘ star ⓘ star system ⓘ triple star system ⓘ |
| apparentMagnitude | −0.27 ⓘ |
| constellation | Centaurus ⓘ |
| declination | about −60° 50′ ⓘ |
| distanceFromSun |
about 4.24 light-years
ⓘ
about 4.37 light-years ⓘ |
| eccentricity | about 0.52 ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
Alpha Centauri A
ⓘ
Alpha Centauri B ⓘ Proxima Centauri ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri
|
| hasCulturalSignificanceIn | navigation in Southern Hemisphere ⓘ |
| hasExoplanet | Proxima Centauri b ⓘ |
| isBinarySubsystem |
Alpha Centauri AB
ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri
|
| isBrightestStarSystemIn | constellation Centaurus ⓘ |
| isInHabitableZoneOf |
Proxima Centauri
ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri
|
| isNearestStarSystemTo | Solar System ⓘ |
| isNearestStarTo | Sun ⓘ |
| isNotVisibleFrom | most of Northern Hemisphere ⓘ |
| isVisibleFrom | Southern Hemisphere ⓘ |
| luminosity |
about 0.5 times solar luminosity
ⓘ
about 1.5 times solar luminosity ⓘ |
| mass |
about 0.12 solar masses
ⓘ
about 0.9 solar masses ⓘ about 1.1 solar masses ⓘ |
| orbitalCompanion |
Alpha Centauri A
ⓘ
Alpha Centauri B ⓘ |
| orbitalPeriod | about 79.9 years ⓘ |
| orbitalPeriodAroundAlphaCentauriAB | hundreds of thousands of years (approximate) ⓘ |
| orbits |
Proxima Centauri
ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri
|
| orbitsCommonBarycenterWith |
Alpha Centauri AB
ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri
|
| otherName |
Rigil Kent
ⓘ
Rigil Kentaurus ⓘ
linked to:
Alpha Centauri A
Toliman ⓘ |
| partOf | Milky Way ⓘ |
| radius |
about 0.14 solar radii
ⓘ
about 0.86 solar radii ⓘ about 1.2 solar radii ⓘ |
| rightAscension | about 14h 39m ⓘ |
| semiMajorAxis | about 23.4 AU ⓘ |
| similarTo | Sun ⓘ |
| spectralType |
G2V
ⓘ
K1V ⓘ M5.5Ve ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Alpha Centauri Description of subject: Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Solar System, consisting of a triple-star arrangement that includes the Sun-like stars Alpha Centauri A and B and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.
Referenced by (35)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE)
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE)
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
subject linked to:
Sun is embedded within Local Spur
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri
linked to: Alpha Centauri