[37], The outer, light-emitting layer of a star is known as the photosphere. Wolf 359 is known by a variety of names. We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup, Latest Blog Post: Jacks Bad Movies Black Adam (2022). At the light-emitting layer called the photosphere, it has a temperature of about 2,800K, which is low enough for chemical compounds to form and survive. PDF E3 STELLAR DISTANCES E4 COSMOLOGY HW/Study Packet - IB Physics at SAS }) The next closest star is a faint red dwarf about 5.96 light-years from Earth. It's not visible to the naked eye. Wolf 359 is one of the nearest stars to the Sun; only the Alpha Centauri system (including Proxima Centauri ), Barnard's Star and the brown dwarfs Luhman 16 and WISE 0855 . Its orbit through our galaxy will take it within 20,500 light years of the Galactic Centre and as far away as 28,000 light years. In combination with a lower rate of hydrogen consumption due to its low mass, the convection will allow Wolf 359 to remain a main-sequence star for about eight trillion years. At a distance of approximately 7.9 light years from Earth, it has an apparent magnitude of 13.54 and can only be seen with a large telescope. Wolf 359 has a radius only 16% of the Suns and shines with 0.0014 solar luminosities with an effective temperature of about 2,800 K. If it replaced the Sun at the centre of our solar system, it would appear only ten times brighter than the full Moon. [51] Approximately 13,850 years ago, Wolf 359 was at its minimal distance of about 7.35ly (2.25pc) from the Sun. Wolf 359 is a relatively young star with an age of less than a billion years. Epsilon has a dust disk around it and appears to have a planetary system. The two planets were detected in a survey of 426 nearby red dwarfs, which revealed 118 candidate exoplanets orbiting these stars, including a cool super-Neptune and a hot super-Earth orbiting Wolf 359. Some of those worlds may exist in its habitable zone, a region that allows liquid water to flow freely on planetary surfaces. Courtesy Skatebiker/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0. Does ZnSO4 + H2 at high pressure reverses to Zn + H2SO4? For example, a red star can be large or small. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), In 1995, observations with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed 32 flare-like events over a period of 2 hours. https://www.thoughtco.com/closest-stars-to-earth-3073628 (accessed March 5, 2023). They find the fleet completely destroyed. Barnard's Star Distance from Earth. Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and . Since it has less than 0.25 solar masses, it will never become a red giant. 4.0 . Wolf 359 (7.79, M5V) Lalande 21185 (4.37, K0V) HD 33946 (4.37, K0V) What is the farthest star to which distance has been measured by The 10 Closest Stars to Earth - ThoughtCo [22] In 1969, a brief flare in the luminosity of Wolf 359 was observed, linking it to the class of variable stars known as flare stars. Wolf 359 has a proper motion of 4.696 arcseconds per year. Multi-wavelength Flare Observations of Wolf 359 from Earth and Space CNLeoLightCurve.png 1,500 975; 105 KB. The shift seen in Proxima Centauri (left) and Wolf 359 (right). Notable uses in literature include the novels The Space Pioneers (1953) by Carey Rockwell, Captive Universe (1969) by Harry Harrison, Terry Pratchetts The Dark Side of the Sun (1976), Jack McDevitts Chindi (2002), and John Ringos There Will Be Dragons (2003) and the Troy Rising (2010-2011) trilogy, and the short stories Proposal (1952) by L. Sprague de Camp, The Outcasts (1958) by George H. Smith, and Whos Afraid of Wolf 359? (2008) by Ken MacLeod. Wolf 359 (star) - Citizendium Top 10 Closest stars to Earth - Elist10 Most Trekkies know the name of this star and what it means to the Trekiverse. a) Describe in detail, with the aid of a diagram if necessary, how this parallax angle is measured. Wolf 359 - 7 . The star Wolf 359 is 7.86 light-years from Earth. Polaris . Why Didn't the Borg Attack the Federation Earlier? Most are indexes in various catalogues. What sort of strategies would a medieval military use against a fantasy giant? In 2001, the astronomers who conducted the observations reported the detection of highly ionized iron (Fe XIII) in the corona of Wolf 359, which is an indicator for cool coronal plasma. parallax. Russian Wikipedia. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. This indicates the star must be at least 100 million years old. [14], Wolf 359 is classified as a UV Ceti-type flare star,[5] which is a star that undergoes brief, energetic increases in luminosity because of magnetic activity in the photosphere. Wolf 359 is a nearby red dwarf that produces frequent flares, which are unpredictable increases in stellar brightness caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy. This prevents the buildup of helium in the stellar cores and prolongs the period of fusion, allowing low-mass red dwarfs to maintain the same spectral type and luminosity for trillions of years before they run out of fuel. The distance to the star Wolf 359 = 2,409 0.009 pc, ie 7.86 light-years (+/-0.03 ly) Remarks: On April 22, 2020, we made observations with the ATEO-1 remote telescope in tandem with the New Horizons space probe at nearby star Wolf 359. With a mass of 0.09 solar masses, Wolf 359 is one of the lowest-mass stars known. The Gliese ID of the star is GL 406. Wolf 359 made its closest approach to the Sun 13,850 years ago, when it came within 7.329 light years (2.247 parsecs). To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The companion images of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 were provided by different institutes. Lalande 21185 is the brightest red dwarf in the northern sky, but still invisible to the unaided eye with an apparent magnitude of 7.520. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { Wolf 359 (English) 4. window.adsContainer = {"position2":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Above_Next_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position3":{"code":"Article_Mobile_300x250_ATF_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position4":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position5":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle1_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position6":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle2_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position7":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle3_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position8":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle4_Rel","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position9":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle5_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position10":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle6_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position11":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle7_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position12":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle8_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position13":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle9_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position14":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle10_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position15":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle11_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250},"position16":{"code":"Article_Mobile_Middle12_Rel","max_width":320,"max_height":250}} . Wolf 359 is located in the constellation Leo. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. It should not be taken as though the star is moving closer or . The spectrum showed emission lines of Fe XIII, which is heavily ionized iron that has been stripped of twelve of its electrons. eventAction: 'view' The Battle of Wolf 359 took place in early 2367 in the Wolf system, roughly eight light years from Earth, between the forces of the United Federation of Planets and the Borg Collective. Our Stellar Neighborhood: Wolf 359 stated in. What is the bloodiest war in the Star Trek universe involving the UFP? Wolf 359 on Apple Podcasts This faint red dwarf is located in the constellation Leo. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. ga('ads.send', { In 1919 he published a catalog of over one thousand stars with high proper motions, including this one, that are still identified by his name. Answer in Astronomy | Astrophysics for Kai #142547 By the time, the Earth has completed a full year, the planet will have completed 135.85 orbits of its star . eventAction: 'click_image_ads' What is the purpose of this D-shaped ring at the base of the tongue on my hiking boots? It was also the site where Captain Benjamin Sisko lost his wife during the battle. hitType: 'event', Top 10 Star Trek destinations chosen by NASA scientists hitType: 'event', It's located in the direction of the constellation Leo. 2. It was the lowest-mass and faintest star known until the discovery of VB 10 in 1944. Full impulse is of the . eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Is it plausible for constructed languages to be used to affect thought and control or mold people towards desired outcomes? The primaries in the system, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, are about 4.37 light-years from Earth. It would take a spaceship 7.86 years travelling at the speed of light to get there. It is one of the nearest stars to the Sun. Temperature estimates of the photosphere of Wolf 359 range from 2,500K to 2,900K,[38] which is sufficiently cool for equilibrium chemistry to occur. Barnard's Star Star Facts (Distance, Colour & more) It has a mass of 3.8 Earth masses (0.012 Jupiter masses) and orbits the star from a distance of 0.018 astronomical units with a period of 2.68687 days. [Hint: how is parallax angle related to distance.] He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. The best time of year to watch the stars and deep sky objects in Leo is during the spring months, when the constellation is prominent in the evening sky. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. New Horizons Is So Far From Earth, It Shows Us How Stars - ScienceAlert In "Star Trek," it was suggested as the system where Spock's planet, Vulcan, existed. Below is a tabular view of the star facts with the values of the Sun on the right so you can compare them against our star, the Sun. The resulting chemical compounds survive long enough to be observed through their spectral lines. Its variable star designation is CN Leonis. hitType: 'event', Which are the Largest Stars in the Universe? } This projected rotational velocity of Wolf 359's equator is less than 3km/s, which is below the threshold of detection through spectral line broadening. This is 37 minutes later than the New Horizons image, relative to Wolf 359 time. The celestial neighborhood also contains theAlpha Centauri system. It is a red dwarf star located in the constellation Leo, near the ecliptic. Distance from Earth: 7.78 ly: Radial velocity: 191 km/s: Proper motion: RA: -3842 mas/yr Dec.: -2725 mas/yr: Parallax: 419.1 2.10 mas: Wolf 359 is the fourth closest star at only 7.7 light years; only Proxima Centauri . eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, Batch split images vertically in half, sequentially numbering the output files, Radial axis transformation in polar kernel density estimate. Working backwards that would be 19.6 arcsecs. Measuring to a point 1/2 way between earth and New Horizons (which is essentially the same as to the sun or earth in light years) I am still amazed at "how close it was to the correct answer". Wolf 359 is one of the faintest and lowest-mass stars known. Most of these events were microflares. From this position change, and the known size of the Earth's orbit, the distance to the star could be estimated. In reality, Wolf 359 is located only 7.78 light-years from Earth. The smaller the number, the brighter the star is. Even one Borg drone on Earth would have been a crippling blow to the Federation. Wolf 359 is one of the nearest stars to the Sun; only the Alpha Centauri system (including Proxima Centauri), Barnard's Star, and the brown dwarfs Luhman 16 (WISE 1049-5319) and WISE 08550714 are known to be closer. Of the stars listed below, which is furthest from Earth? The companion images of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 were provided by different institutes. ga('ads.send', { The question in your title and the questions in the body are two different questions! 10 Closest Stars to Earth Known to Have Planets > Astronomy These include Messier 65, Messier 66 and NGC 3628 in the Leo Triplet (M65 Group), and Messier 95, Messier 96 and Messier 105 in the Leo I Group (M96 Group). Unless I'm mistaken it should be divided by 3600 seconds, not 360 hours. Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star located at a distance of approximately 7.9 light years from Earth, it has an apparent magnitude of 13.54 and can only be seen with a large telescope. All messages will be reviewed before being displayed. It is now moving away from the Sun at a velocity of about 19 km/s. [Hint: how is parallax angle related to . 390 . rev2023.3.3.43278. Unfortunately, it appears to have none. With an apparent magnitude of 13.54, it is invisible to the unaided eye and can only be seen in larger telescopes. Still, astronomers will keep checking on possible worlds and their habitability for life. That's because it may well have planets orbiting it. These flares emit strong bursts of X-ray and gamma ray radiation that have been observed by space telescopes. Located only 8.31 light years from the Sun, it is also one of our nearest neighbours. (Reference book: Spaceflight Chronology) The Wolf 359 system was the site of a major battle between the United Federation of Planets and the Borg. No large orbiting body (stellar or substellar, such as a brown dwarf) were found as close as the distance from the Earth to the Sun -- i.e., one AU -- from Wolf 359 (Schroeder et al, 2000). The star Wolf 359 is at a distance of 7.8 light-years from Earth. Wolf 359 (star) 492 million: It would take almost 2 years for the fastest human-made spacecraft to travel from Earth to Europa. It is the closest star to have planets orbiting around it. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. . It only takes a minute to sign up. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of eventAction: 'click_adunit' Wolf 359, also known as GJ 406, is a dim red dwarf star with a V-magnitude of 13.5 located in the constellation of Leo. It illuminates the Earth in the daytime and is responsible for the Moon's glow in the night. 3.9). Distance from Earth in light years . The map was generated using Night Vision, a great free application by Brian Simpson. 1 light year is the distance covered by the light in 1 year. The Real Wolf 359 | Drew Ex Machina AU with orbital period of around 8 hours but tidally locked; light emitted by red dwarfs may be too red in color for Earth-type plant life to perform photosynthesis efficiently; at 1 AU . Wolf 359 is also a close neighbour to Lalande 21185 in Ursa Major at 4.1 light years. Barnard's Star distance from Earth is 5.94 light-years away from Earth or 1.82 parsecs In 2007, Hipparcos data was revised with a new parallax of 548.31000, which puts the Barnard's Star distance from Earth as 5.95 light years or 1.82 parsecs. Leo is one of the several constellations that look like the animals they represent. Why do small African island nations perform better than African continental nations, considering democracy and human development? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Even though they would not appear close in the sky if they were visible, the two red dwarfs are separated by only 3.79 light years, which is less than the distance from the Sun to Proxima Centauri (4.2465 light years). The fact that its close by is one of the reasons why its popular in fiction. 1 (IB) a) The star Wolf 359 has a parallax angle of 0.419 arcsecond. The star was part of the original catalogue devised by German Astronomer Wilheim Gliese of stars located within 20 parsecs of Earth. Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. This trinary system of three dwarf stars, about 16 light-years from Earth, could play host to exoplanets; none have been detected there so far. Wolf 359 is one of the nearest stars to the Sun; only the Alpha Centauri system (including Proxima Centauri), Barnard's Star, and the brown dwarfs Luhman 16 (WISE 1049-5319 . However, we need to convert this number into km. As the Earth is titled, we therefore have Celestial and Ecliptic hemispheres and they can be different for a star. . If the Sun is replaced by Wolf 359 #Short - YouTube These are equivalent to the Longitude and Latitude on Earth. Wolf 359 is one of the nearest stars to the Sun. It looks pretty dim to observers. [7.78 ly] c) The ratio is 3.7 10-15. Wolf 359 Podcast | Free Listening on Podbean App [24] By comparison, the magnetic field of the Sun averages 1gauss (100 T), although it can rise as high as 3kG (0.3 T) in active sunspot regions. With the motto "We Hate Continuity" that doesn't necessarily have to be only within the fiction. Stellar models suggest that all red dwarfs with a mass less than 0.35 solar masses are fully convective. 4.2421. Which of these best explains why people on Earth cannot see the entire shape of the Milky Way? (ii) Calculate the distance, in metres, from Wolf 359 to Earth. 99.6 . As a result of magnetic activity caused by convection, Wolf 359 is a flare star that can undergo sudden increases in luminosity for several minutes. Interstellar navigators can do the same to establish their position in the galaxy, using the technique that New Horizons has demonstrated for the first time. Apparent Magnitude is also known as Visual Magnitude. The inner planet, Wolf 359c, would receive about three times more stellar radiation than Earth does, making it very unlikely to be a habitable planet. How would "dark matter", subject only to gravity, behave? 4.3 . The human eye cannot detect these shifts. Wolf 359 is a star located approximately 2.4 parsecs or 7.80 light years from Earth's solar system. But since even the nearest stars are hundreds of thousands of times farther away than the diameter of Earths orbit, the parallax shifts are tiny, and can only be measured with precise instrumentation. Wolf 359 - posted in Experienced Deep Sky Imaging: Wolf 359 is one of the closest stars to our sun and also one of the smallest and least luminous stars known (other than brown dwarfs, which are not really stars). NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. [30] For comparison, the equatorial radius of the planet Jupiter is 71,492km, which is 73% as large as Wolf 359's. Objects with less than 0.08 solar masses are known as brown dwarfs and they cannot trigger sustained nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. . You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Typically, the time scale for the spin down of a star at spectral class M6 is roughly 10 billion years, because fully convective stars like this lose their rotation more slowly than other stars. eventAction: 'click_ads' All three ships were diverted to . Either that or someone bumped up the distance in Wikipedia. Steam Workshop::Wolf 359 star system Without the Sun, life would not exist here on Earth. Based on the location of Leo, Wolf 359 can be located in the northern hemsiphere of the celestial sky. The magnitude assumes nothing is between the object and the viewer, such as dust clouds. Previous searches using ground-based, photographic astrometry . In 2001, Wolf 359 became the first star other than the Sun to have the spectrum of its corona observed from a ground-based telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope was recently used to search for faint companions about Wolf 359. [32] This process will allow the star to remain on the main sequence as a hydrogen fusing star proportionately longer than a star such as the Sun where helium steadily accumulates at the core. } Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. Wolf 359. - Age: 350 million years System: Akela and its planets are apparently named after lupine characters in an old Earth fiction work Jungle Book (the identity of the author, only . Thanks for contributing an answer to Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange! Nearest stars to the Sun, image: Wikimedia Commons/Nsae Comp (CC BY-SA 4.0). Millis, John P., Ph.D. "The 10 Closest Stars to Earth." Wolf 359 (also known as CN Leonis) is a star, located about 2.4 parsecs (7.8 light-years) from Earth, where it is visible in the constellation of Leo. Since the Earth-Sun distance is 15 meters in the Voyage model, a basketball-size Earth would require an Earth-Sun distance of about 3 kilometers, and a Sun-Pluto distance of about 120 kilometers.) As close as it is at a distance of 8.29 light-years, it is not likely that humans will travel to Lalande 21185 any time soon. Of course there's nothing to say that this wasn't a separate encounter post-Best of Both Worlds. Even though it is close by, you won't be able to see it because it is faint. Ultimately, given its 7.8 light year distance, the Wolf 359 system would now seem to make a tempting target for early interstellar missions. LHS (Luyten Half-Second) catalogue is a catalogue of stars whose proper motions exceed half a second of arc annually. The American astronomer Frank Elmore Ross first cataloged it in 1925 as part of his search for variable stars. The number refers to where the star was indexed in the library. If Star X is 50 times as far from the sun as Wolf 359 is, how far is Star X from the sun, to the nearest light-year? Wolf 359 - Wikipedia 7.780.04 light-year. Is it correct to use "the" before "materials used in making buildings are"? 5. The proper motion of Wolf 359 was first measured in 1917 by German astronomer Max Wolf, with the aid of astrophotography. [17][13], Wolf 359 first came to the attention of astronomers because of the relatively high rate of transverse motion against the background, known as the proper motion. 1. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? The measurement allowed astronomers to estimate the distance to the star. Think about the distance from the Earth to Pluto. Given its relatively short distance from Earth of 31 light-years, Wolf 1069 b is now the sixth closest Earth-mass habitable zone exoplanet; the others are, in order of increasing distance, Proxima . Still, astronomers will keep checking on possible worlds and their habitability for life. hitType: 'event', The star hosts two exoplanets, designated Wolf 359 b and c, both discovered in 2019. At 9.68 light-years from Earth, this red dwarf is well known to astronomers as an active flare star. The Star. So, what's the closest star to us? }); Wolf359 photos - Experienced Deep Sky Imaging - Cloudy Nights [17], Further observations from the CARMENES survey have found that the radial velocity signal corresponding to the inner planet candidate c is likely to be a false positive, with a stellar rather than planetary origin.[13][53]. The star Wolf 359 has a parallax angle of 0.419 arcseconds. The star is actually moving so fast through space that in about 36,000 years, it will actually take over the title as the closest star to Earth (besides our Sun) for about 9,000 years. Guaranteed time observations Data Release 1 (2016-2020)", The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight, Celestial objects within 510 light-years, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolf_359&oldid=1140844104, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:42. Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star of the spectral type M6.5 Ve or dM6. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's . There are actually three all doing a complex orbital dance together. [14], The proper motion Wolf 359 against the background is 4.696arcseconds per year, and it is moving away from the Sun at a velocity of 19km/s. It looks pretty dim to observers. Navigators have used measurements of the stars throughout history to establish their position on Earth. The galactic orbit has an eccentricity of 0.156, and the star can travel as far as 444 light-years (136pc) away from the galactic plane. 0.0000158. It's been speculated that the Wolf 359 survivor is the Endeavour based on Janeway reading the Captain's Log of her captain in Scorpion where he discussed the Borg encounter. 1.40), Algieba (Gamma Leo, mag. Wolf 359 - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia The parallax of Wolf 359 was first measured at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1928 and reported as 0.407 0.009 arcseconds. }) Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. The Sun is our nearest star, which keeps us warm and gives us light as we complete one orbit in 365.24 days. With a mean stellar flux of about three times that of the Earth (and over 60% higher than Venus), there is no likelihood that Wolf 359c is a potentially habitable planet. The resulting distance a between Earth and Wolf 359 turns out to be roughly 531,000 AU. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. Ambassador class - Heavy Cruiser - Three Ambassador class ships: USS Kadosca, USS Yamaguchi and USS Galahand were present at the battle of Wolf 359. The 2005 study derived an age of 200 350 million years and a mass of 0.1 0.09 M from a measured effective temperature of 2,800 K and a luminosity of -2.95 L. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's . [6][48] When translated into the galactic coordinate system, this motion corresponds to a space velocity of (U, V, W) = (26, 44, 18) km/s. It lies 18.72 light years from the Sun. Wolf 359 was the first star other than the Sun to have the emission lines from its stellar corona observed from a ground-based telescope. [29] (Substellar objects below this limit are known as brown dwarfs.) Wolf 359 is one of the nearest stars to the Sun; only the Alpha Centauri system, Barnard's Star, and the brown dwarfs Luhman 16 and WISE 08550714 are known to be closer. What was the largest death count in Star Trek? PDF The Solar Neighborhood within 17 light years. 29 - NASA A third star, Proxima Centauri (sometimes called Alpha Centauri C), is gravitationally associated with the former. Wolf 359 has a relatively high flare rate and the strength of its magnetic field varies with periods as short as six hours. While radio-tracking by NASAs Deep Space Network is far more accurate, its first use is a significant milestone in what may "someday become human exploration of the galaxy," say experts. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/closest-stars-to-earth-3073628. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than the the Sun..