Pluto probe offers eye-popping view of neighbouring star Proxima Centauri

Pluto probe offers eye-popping view of neighbouring star Proxima Centauri



These composite images each show a star (Wolf 359 on the left; Proxima Centauri on the right) as seen from two points of view, one on Earth and the other on the New Horizons probe. (JHUAPL/MSFC/NASA)

Pluto probe offers view of neighbouring star

NASA’s New Horizons probe has photographed Proxima Centauri — the closest star to the Sun — from the outer reaches of the Solar System. The 2015 mission to Pluto used a technique to measure the distance of stars by how they shift in the sky between two vantage points. Such changes are normally imperceptible to the human eye, but in Proxima’s case, the star is seen clearly wobbling between New Horizon’s viewpoint and the Earth’s. In another example of astronomy from deep space, the Mars rover Curiosity will monitor the erratic star Betelgeuse while it is not visible from Earth.

Nature | 6 min read