α Centauri (Latinised to Alpha Centauri) is the system's designation given by Johann Bayer in 1603. It bears the traditional name Rigil Kentaurus, which is a Latinisation of the Arabic name رجل القنطورس Rijl al-Qinṭūrus, meaning 'the Foot of the

To the naked eye, Alpha Centauri AB appears to be a single star, the brightest in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Their apparent angular

All components of Alpha Centauri display significant proper motion against the background sky. Over centuries, this causes their apparent positions to slowly change. Proper motion

The sky from Alpha Centauri AB would appear much as it does from the Earth, except that Centaurus would be missing its brightest star. The Sun

Alpha Centauri is a triple star system, with its two main stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, together comprising a binary component. The AB designation, or older A×B, denotes the mass centre of a main binary system relative to companion star(s) in a multiple star

Alpha Centauri is listed in the 2nd-century star catalog of Ptolemy. He gave its ecliptic coordinates, but texts differ as to whether the ecliptic latitude reads 44° 10′ South or 41° 10′ South. (Presently the ecliptic latitude is 43.5° South, but it has decreased by a fraction of

The Alpha Centauri system as a whole has three confirmed planets, all of them around Proxima Centauri. While other planets have been claimed to exist around all of the stars, none of the