Proxima
Proxima is the nearest star to the Sun. It is a dim red dwarf, smaller than our Sun and a great deal
fainter. Here we see it from a hypothetical orbiting planet. To the right you can also make out
Alpha Centauri, which is a binary star with two Sun-like components. The Alpha Centauri pair orbit
each other quite closely, while Proxima orbits this pair much further out, forming a triple star
system. I have exaggerated the brightness of the close binary pair for artistic reasons. Appears on
the cover of the May 2003 edition of
Asimov's Science Fiction.