Alpha Centauri Star System. Is there Life Present. Mysterious Binary Star System.

Life, it is not just a word, but it has forced us to search the entire universe. Do anything, use any telescope, use any technology, send space missions, no matter how much money is spent, but find this life anywhere in the universe except Earth.

Then no matter how small it may come. Nowadays all astronomers are doing the same thing. We knew for centuries that this life is not only related to our earth, but it can be settled anywhere in this universe. But then perhaps we did not have so many modern scientific instruments. But today we are equipped with all the modern tools of science and are able to find the subtle parts of life anywhere other than Earth which can be really there.

But even today in this infinite universe, seeking life from the earth is a game of possibilities. This means that in order for us to confirm life, we have to go to the place where we are exploring the possibilities of life while sending our devices in this infinite universe. And in search of the possibilities of this life, we have set our eyes on our neighboring solar system, Alpha Century Star System.

In this episode of today, we will learn about the Alpha Century star system.

Ponducherry, December 1689, Astronomer Jean Richaud was studying a comment.

But accidentally he saw Alpha Century. Actually Alpha Century was not a single star. It was a group of two stars.

And likewise Jean Richaud was the first to discover that Alpha Century is the binary star system. The two stars of the Alpha Century Star System are extremely close to each other and hence both appear at the same point when viewed from Earth. This star system is the brightest star seen in Southern Constellation Santores and also the third brightest star in our night sky. So now whenever you see the starry sky in the night, then say hello to the stars of your neighbor Alpha Century. In the 19th century study, we discovered a lot about these two stars of Alpha Century. These two stars are circling each other at a common BarriCenter. The largest star of this system is Alpha Century A and the second star is Alpha Century B, which is smaller than Alpha Century A in size. The Alpha Century Star System is also known as Alpha Century AB. If we compare the stars of this system to our own sun, then many fun facts can be revealed. Alpha Century AB is also known as Regal. Alpha Century A is also considered to be the principal member of the Alpha Century Star System, or rather, the main member. Alpha Century A which is the biggest star of this binary system. Which is much bigger than our Sun. The radius of Alpha Century A is more than eight million kilometers, which is about 22% more than our Sun. In weight, this star is 10% heavier than our Sun and if we talk about shining then Alpha Century A is about one and a half times brighter than our Sun. The rotational period of this Star is 22 days, while the rotational period of our Sun is 25 days. Another binary star of this binary system is Alpha Century B, which is also called secondary member, companion star or if it is called fellow star of this system. This star is smaller than our Sun and is also cold. Alpha Century A is yellow in color. But Alpha Century B appears orange color as it cools down. The radius of Alpha Century B is about 600000 km which is about 14% less than our Sun. In weight, this star is about 10% less heavier than our Sun and it is estimated that its rotational period can be between 37 days to 41 days.

The Alpha Century Star System is about 4.37 light years away from our solar system. If in future we will go to Alpha Century Star System or even pass through it, then as we get closer to it, we will see it going from one point to two. These two stars complete an orbit in about 79.91 years and during this time these two stars come so close to each other that the distance between them remains only 11.2 astronomically units. This distance of 1.68 billion kilometers is almost equal to the distance between our Sun and Saturn and during this orbit, these two stars go the farthest distance from each other to a distance of 35.6 astronomically units. This distance of 5.33 billion kilometers is approximately equal to the distance of our Sun and the drawf Planet Pluto. The weight of this binary star system of Alpha Century is almost double that of our Sun. Scientists also estimate about this binary star system that both its stars are millions of years older than the birth of our Sun. Meaning here, from any mysterious part of our solar system, several hundred thousand years old secrets can be buried and this binary system is mysterious from the beginning. Alpha Century was included in Ptolemy's list of Second Century Star Catalogy, and at the time of Ptolemy, the star seen from town of Alexandria in Egypt. But do you know that the position of the stars are never fixed in the sky and in its background. The stars live in relative motion from each other. If a star from our Sun is in relative motion, its imprint position will constantly change in the sky and this machine is called Proper Motion in Astronomy and due to this Proper Motion, we do not see the Alpha Century Star System from the city of Alexandria today. But in the twentieth century, there was going to be another big reveal about this mysterious Alpha Century star system. The twentieth century, Johannesburg South Africa 1915, the same year Albert Einstein, the great scientist of the century, published a side-by-side release of the Gravitational Field Equation of Theory General Relativity. On the other hand, in 1915, the Scottish astronomer Robert TANS saw blinking in his photographic plate while studying the Proper Motion of the Alpha Century Star System. He also checked the photographic plate at different times, but the same blinking was coming all the time. It was an unknown object but quite large. On study, the size and direction of the parelex of this object was very similar to Alpha Century AB. Which meant that this object is also part of this system. But this unknown object was showing more motion than this binary system. Which simply meant that this object was closer to our solar system than this binary system, and this unknown object was a red drawf star named Alpha Century C.

But it is also commonly called Proxima Century. Proxima Century is about 4.24 light years away from our solar system and thus we found our nearest star Proxima Century. Now the Alpha Century star system is not just a binary star system. The discovery of Proxima Century made it a Triple star system. Proxima Century is the smallest and coldest star in this star system. If we compare it with our Sun, then the Proxima Century's diameter is only one-seventh of our Sun's diameter. But if we talk about its mean density, then the mean density of Proxima Century is a centimeter cube at 47.1 grams and our sun has a centimeter cube at just 1.41 grams. The mean density of Proxima Century is about 33.38 times higher than the mean density of our Sun, but our Sun shines about 600 times more than the Proxima Century. In size, the Proxima Century has grown only one and a half times more than the planet Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, but its weight in the same size is equal to 129 Jupiter planets. But in front of our Sun, its weight also remains sown like its height. Its weight is only 12.2% of the total weight of our Sun. In the Alpha Century system, this star is about 13000 astronomically units away from the Alpha Center's Barycenter. And this distance is equal to 1.9 trillion kilometers which is 5% of the distance between our Sun and Alpha Century. Due to the distance of all this, its presence has always been questioned. Was it really born in this star system or was it a passing star freely roaming this space and the powerful gravity of the binary system captured it and forced it to revolve around this binary system do. Proxima Century completes an orbit of the Barycenter of Alpha Century AB in about 5.5 million years, which is a very long time.

But this long time before the age of this small star will take you just like a nano second. Its age is more than that of our Sun like the rest of the Alpha Century stars, but it will remain the main sequel star for about 4 trillion years to come. This means that it will continue to produce energy for 4 trillion years to come and this age is 300 times longer than the age of our universe and after that it will consume red hydrogen when it consumes more hydrogen in its last time and it will change in a blue drawf star and When all hydrogen of the blue drawf is finished, Proxima will turn into a Century White drawf. And as it gets colder, it will turn into a black drawf star and this moment will be the last moment for stars like Proxima Century.

Right now the age of our Universe is not so much that any red drawf have converted into star blue drawf. But according to practical models this may happen in the future. Now Proxima Century has a life of trillions of years. If it could work for us, it would be a big thing and something similar was going to happen in the 21st century. In the 21st century, European Southern Observatory, January 2016, a team of 31 scientists was formed from different countries of the world. All this work was being done under the Pale Red Dot project, which was launched by the European Southern Observatory in January 2016 itself.

On 24 August 2016, the hard work finally paid off and the team had confirmed the presence of a planet orbiting Proxima Century. However, this was not the first case. In 2013, Mikko Tuomi first hinted at having an exo planet near Proxima Century. This planet, discovered near Proxima Century, is known as Proxima Century B.

This planet was discovered with radial velocity method. Proxima Century B is only 0.05 astronomically away from its star, Proxima Century. This distance is 7.5 million kilometers. While the first planet in our solar system Mercury is about 57.91 million kilometers from the Sun. The orbital period of Proxima Century B is estimated to be 11.2 days. This planet can be 1.3 times heavier than our earth. The Habitable Zone of the Proxima Century Star extends from 0.023 to 0.054 astronomically unit distance. And Proxima Century B falls in this Habitable Zone and that is why our eyes are fixed on Proxima Century B.

It is possible that water is present in liquid form, but any planet being in Habitable Zone does not mean that there will be 100% life there. Habitable zone only confirms that the temperature in that zone will be similar enough that water can remain there in liquid form. It may also happen that the planet is in Habitable Zone, but there is no water there. If there is water, there is no atmosphere. Life also depends on many other circumstances. We can go to Proxima Century, but as initially said, finding life outside the Earth is a game of possibilities. We all hope that there is life on Proxima Century and we get a new home for the future. But there are many problems in this which will make us think whether Proxima Century B will remain deserted without such life. The biggest problem is its distance from Alpha Century which is only 0.05 astronomical units and it is just 12.95% of the distance between our Sun and Mercury. Proxima Century is a Variables star. Radiations emanating from it are continuously released in variable amounts. Sometimes it shines less and sometimes shines more. Its magnetic field continuously gives rise to dangerous solar flares, and all the radiation from it, such as infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray, is so powerful that life on Proxima Century B will be no less than hell. The second biggest problem of Proxima Century B is that the planet can be tidally locked from Proxima Century due to its short distance. Its one side can always have a day and the other side can be dark forever. If this happens, there will be a lot of difference in temperature on both the sides and only the middle space will be left for us. Where the temperature will neither be too hot nor too cold. In such a situation, to stay on the dark side of this planet, we can send big mirrors to the space which can illuminate the darkside by reflecting the light coming from the Proxima Century. Another big challenge is that if there is no atmosphere on this planet, or if there is no water. Here all our expectations will be seen to be broken. But if we start thinking that everything is going according to our wish then the picture will be completely different from it. We got water there too and the atmosphere too, if all the conditions are right here to stay and our colony is now at Proxima Century B, then everyone who lives there will see a wonder. The two brightest stars will be seen in the sky of Proxima Century B at night. And it will be the binary star of Alpha Century, Alpha Century AB. Life on Proxima Century is the biggest silver lining for our bright future. Alpha Century has very little grip on Proxima Century and in the future it may be that Proxima Century leaves this star system and starts to lion freely somewhere in space. And it may not affect Alpha Century's life on Proxima Century. Like the Proxima Century, similar planets were discovered in the Alpha Century binary system where life is possible. In 2012, one such Planet Alpha Century B was estimated to be in the orbit. But the analysis in 2015 showed that there is no such Planet Exist. This error in estimation was caused by incorrect data. In 2013, another planet was discovered in the orbit of Alpha Century B, named Alpha Century BC. Its orbital period was estimated to be 12 days. Due to the triple star system, there can be more chances of planet being here. There is a big possibility that the planet is orbiting the binary systems on each star and another possibility is that it is orbiting the binary system itself, in a larger orbit. But we have not found any brown drafts or gas giants from any kind of observation. But our theatrical study says that Earth-like planets can exist in the orbit of Alpha Century A and B and that too in Habitable Zone. At present, the probability of getting a planet like Earth in any way in their habitable zone is 85%. But the possibilities can change anytime. The two stars of Alpha Century are very close and therefore studying them one by one is also a difficult task and probably also because we are having difficulty in finding such planets. But even if we were afraid of the Alpha Century Star System being alive on any planet, then the biggest problem was 4.2 or 4.3.Light years will have to travel the distance and reach there. This is the distance that the brightest object in our universe i.e. light will also complete in 4.2 or 4.3 years. But will our spacecraft be able to complete this distance in one generation? Will we be able to create a spacecraft that rapidly takes humans to Proxima Century B? What do you think, please tell us by commenting. Currently, Proxm ima Century is closest to our solar system and it is our nearest star for the last about 32000 years. But this truth will not remain the same forever. After about 25000 years this fact will change and at that time Alpha Century A and B will continue to be the closest compliment. After a regular interval of 80 years and again after millions of years, Proxima century will become our nearest star. But here our possibilities do not end because our life is priceless and perhaps we were born. To discover the universe and to know the universe. Do you know that many such red drawfs are waiting for us near Proxima Century? It is only late to turn the telescope around and find them.

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