Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun, 4.25 light-years away, followed by the two bright stars of Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s Star. This ranking lists every individual star and brown dwarf within 11 light-years (one row per object, so a double star takes two rows and tied distances share a rank), unlike our rankings of the planets, moons and telescopes in the same space. Distances are from Gaia-based parallaxes, as of November 2026.
Pictured: Proxima Centauri, #1 at 4.2465 light-years, in an EarthSky explainer video.
| Rank | Star / object | System | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type | Object type | Apparent magnitude | Naked eye | Constellation | Confirmed planets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proxima Centauri | Alpha Centauri | 4.2465 | M5.5Ve | Red dwarf | 11.09 | No | Centaurus | 2 |
| 2 | Alpha Centauri A (Rigil Kentaurus) | Alpha Centauri | 4.3441 | G2V | Main-sequence star | 0.01 | Yes | Centaurus | 0 |
| 2 | Alpha Centauri B (Toliman) | Alpha Centauri | 4.3441 | K1V | Main-sequence star | 1.34 | Yes | Centaurus | 0 |
| 4 | Barnard's Star | Barnard's Star | 5.9629 | M4.0Ve | Red dwarf | 9.53 | No | Ophiuchus | 4 |
| 5 | Luhman 16 A | Luhman 16 (WISE 1049−5319) | 6.5102 | L8 | Brown dwarf | 10.7 (J band) | No | Vela | 0 |
| 5 | Luhman 16 B | Luhman 16 (WISE 1049−5319) | 6.5102 | T1 | Brown dwarf | — | No | Vela | 0 |
| 7 | WISE 0855−0714 | None (isolated) | 7.43 | Y4 | Brown dwarf | 25.0 (J band) | No | Hydra | 0 |
| 8 | Wolf 359 | Wolf 359 (CN Leonis) | 7.856 | M6.0V | Red dwarf | 13.44 | No | Leo | 0 |
| 9 | Lalande 21185 | Lalande 21185 (Gliese 411) | 8.3044 | M2.0V | Red dwarf | 7.47 | No | Ursa Major | 2 |
| 10 | Sirius A | Sirius | 8.7094 | A1V | Main-sequence star | −1.46 | Yes | Canis Major | 0 |
| 10 | Sirius B | Sirius | 8.7094 | DA2 | White dwarf | 8.44 | No | Canis Major | 0 |
| 12 | Gliese 65 A (BL Ceti) | Luyten 726-8 (Gliese 65) | 8.77 | M5.5Ve | Red dwarf | 12.54 | No | Cetus | 0 |
| 12 | Gliese 65 B (UV Ceti) | Luyten 726-8 (Gliese 65) | 8.77 | M6.0Ve | Red dwarf | 12.99 | No | Cetus | 0 |
| 14 | Ross 154 | Ross 154 (V1216 Sagittarii) | 9.7063 | M3.5Ve | Red dwarf | 10.43 | No | Sagittarius | 0 |
| 15 | Ross 248 | Ross 248 (HH Andromedae) | 10.3057 | M5.5Ve | Red dwarf | 12.29 | No | Andromeda | 0 |
| 16 | Epsilon Eridani | Epsilon Eridani | 10.4749 | K2V | Main-sequence star | 3.73 | Yes | Eridanus | 1 |
| 17 | Gliese 887 (Lacaille 9352) | Gliese 887 | 10.7241 | M0.5V | Red dwarf | 7.34 | No | Piscis Austrinus | 4 |
| 18 | Ross 128 | Ross 128 (FI Virginis) | 11.0074 | M4.0Vn | Red dwarf | 11.13 | No | Virgo | 1 |
No matching rows.
Distances as of November 2026, from the parallaxes in Wikipedia’s “List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs” (mostly Gaia-based, Brown 2021); spectral types from the RECONS list. Each of these will shift slightly with every new data release. One row per star or brown dwarf; members of one system share its distance and rank. Apparent magnitude is visual (V) unless marked J band for the cool brown dwarfs, where V is not meaningful; Luhman 16 B has no separate magnitude in the source (shown as —). The naked eye limit is about magnitude 6 under dark skies. Confirmed planets are the NASA Exoplanet Archive’s count (queried November 2026); candidates such as Proxima c and Alpha Centauri Ab are not counted. Objects farther than 11.01 light-years (including 61 Cygni and Procyon) are left out.[1][2][3]
Proxima is the closest star to the Sun, 4.2465 light-years away, but it is a faint red dwarf of magnitude 11.09 and cannot be seen without a telescope.[1][2] The NASA Exoplanet Archive lists two confirmed planets, Proxima b and Proxima d; a third, Proxima c, is still a candidate.[3] It is the third member of the Alpha Centauri system. The video is EarthSky’s short explainer.
A Sun-like G2V star and the brightest of the nearest stars at magnitude 0.01, it shares a distance of 4.3441 light-years with its companion B.[1] A 2025 James Webb Space Telescope image showed a faint point of light that is a candidate giant planet; it has not been confirmed, and the NASA Exoplanet Archive lists no confirmed planets for it.[3][4] The video is a news report on that candidate.
A K1V orange star slightly cooler than the Sun, magnitude 1.34, orbiting A.[1] To the naked eye A and B blend into one bright point, the third-brightest star in the sky when counted together; no confirmed planets are listed for it.[3]
The nearest single star to the Sun, at 5.9629 light-years, is a magnitude-9.53 red dwarf in Ophiuchus.[1] The NASA Exoplanet Archive lists four confirmed planets, all smaller than Earth and all orbiting in about a week or less; the first was announced by ESO in 2024 and the other three in 2025.[3][5] The video covers the four-planet result.
Luhman 16 is a pair of brown dwarfs found in 2013, the nearest new neighbours discovered in almost a century and the closest brown dwarfs to the Sun.[1][6] A is an L-type brown dwarf about 6.51 light-years away; brown dwarfs are too small to fuse hydrogen like stars, and this one is far too faint to see without a telescope. The video is an explainer on the pair.
The T-type partner of A, cooler and more variable in brightness; Hubble observations found changing cloud patterns that make it the better-studied of the two.[6] The NASA Exoplanet Archive has an entry for Luhman 16 b, but it is this brown dwarf companion rather than a planet, so no planets are counted here.[3]
The coldest known isolated object of its kind, at about 275 K (roughly 2 °C), a Y-type brown dwarf of an estimated 3 to 10 Jupiter masses, sometimes called a planetary-mass object.[7] It is the only entry in the table that orbits no known star, and JWST has measured water, ammonia and phosphine in its atmosphere.[7]
A tiny, dim M6 red dwarf in Leo, magnitude 13.44, at 7.856 light-years.[1] It is better known from fiction: the Battle of Wolf 359 in Star Trek: The Next Generation. No planet is confirmed in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.[3]
A red dwarf in Ursa Major at magnitude 7.47, too dim for the naked eye.[1] The NASA Exoplanet Archive lists two confirmed planets (GJ 411 b and c).[3]
Sirius A is the brightest star in the night sky (magnitude −1.46), an A1 main-sequence star of about 2.15 solar masses.[1][8] Its companion Sirius B, tied at the same distance, is a white dwarf of about 1.05 solar masses, first seen in 1862, and the only white dwarf in the table.[8] The video is an observer’s account of spotting Sirius B.