Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri
Costs
Initial Cost	Stardust 5e57
Initial production	Stardust 3.14e55
Time of production	6,500 s (1:48:20)
Universe info
Bubble Universe	Beyond
Previous	Oort Cloud
Next	Barnard's Star
Traits
Speed	Binary System
Payout	Solar Analog

Alpha Centauri is the 34th Celestial Body and the 3rd Star obtained in The Beyond Bubble Universe, which can generate Stardust. (Unlocked at Rank 17, branching off of Oort Cloud)

In-Game Description

"Alpha Centauri is the closest solar system to our own. 4.37 light years from our Sun, it consists of three stars and at least two exoplanets."

Traits

Common

• Binary System (Speed):

"When two stars orbit together around a common center of mass, it is called a binary star system. They are often the nuclei of planetary nebula, and can exchange mass with each other to grow past the evolutionary stages of standard single stars."

• Solar Analog (Payout):

"Solar analogs are stars that are similar in size, shape, composition, and behavior to Earth’s sun Sol. By studying these comparable stars, we are able to learn more about the Sun. These stars may also provide conditions necessary for extraterrestrial life."

Rare

• Solar Winds (Payout):

"A solar wind is a stream of plasma released from the upper atmosphere (also called the corona) of the Sun. Solar winds can escape the Sun's gravity and cause planetary phenomena like geomagnetic storms and auroras."

Epic

• Speed of Light (Speed):

"The speed of light is the rate at which light and all massless particles travel through a vacuum. While it can seem instantaneous from up close, over long distances this speed limit becomes very noticeable. The theory of relativity relates to the speed of light."

• Cosmic Gravity (Payout):

"Gravity is one of the fundamental forces and key to understanding how the universe works. Using Newton’s principles, astronomers can explain how stars and planets form, predict their mass and motion, and infer the existence of dark matter."

• Goldilocks Zone (Discount):

"The Goldilocks Zone, also called the Habitable Zone, is the region around a star with conditions necessary for a planet that can sustain life. Planets like Earth, with surface water and breathable atmospheres, might be found in these zones in other systems."

Constellations

• Scorpio (1.5x Speed):

"One of the brightest constellations in the sky, Scorpio represents a scorpion. It includes the red star Antares, sometimes called the “heart of the scorpion” because of its placement and color."

• Aries (2x Speed):

"Aries, the ram, is a dim, medium-sized constellation in the Northern celestial hemisphere. It was identified in the time of Ancient Babylon, along with most of the other Zodiac constellations."

System Components

Stars

This trinary star system is located in the Centaurus constellation, and is the third brightest stellar object in the night sky. The Alpha Centauri star system is made up of three stars (trinary star system), Alpha Centauri A (Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centauri B (Toliman), and Alpha Centauri C (Proxima Centauri). Of these three, all are present in the game. These are a main-sequence star of spectral type G2V (Rigil Kentaurus), main-sequence star of spectral type K1V (Toliman), and a small main-sequence red dwarf star of spectral type M5.5Ve (Proxima Centauri).

Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman orbits around each other: their gravity is nearly the same so the barycenter is in neither star - instead, it is around a barycentre in the middle of space between the two stars. It takes around 79 years for the pair of stars to rotate. Proxima Centauri also orbits the barycentre, but can orbit as far as 13,000 AU (0.21 light-years) and take around 550,000 years to complete one orbit.

The Alpha Centauri system is famous for being to closest star system containing the closest stars to the Sun, as well as containing a rare type of star - a G-type star, which our Sun and Rigil Kentaurus are part of.

Alpha Centauri A in the game.

Alpha Centauri B in the game.

Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri C) in the game.

Planets

Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri C)

There are three confirmed exoplanets orbiting our red dwarf star neighbor; all three are in the game. These are designated Proxima Centauri b, Proxima Centauri c, and Proxima Centauri d.

Proxima Centauri b

Proxima Centauri b is a terrestrial planet (like Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars) sitting in the habitable zone of the star. It is one of the closest habitable exoplanets we've ever found and takes 11.2 Earth days to orbit Proxima. It is not known whether an atmosphere is present or not, or if that Proxima has stripped it away due to its intense solar flares.

Proxima Centauri c

Proxima Centauri c could be a super-Earth or mini-Neptune. It might also have a ring system. Its existence is very controversial on whether it even exists or not. It takes 5.28 years to orbit Proxima, and is incredibly cold.

Proxima Centauri d

Proxima Centauri d is a sub-Earth at least one-quarter of the mass of Earth. It takes 5.2 days to orbit Proxima and might contain habitable polar ice caps similar to Mars.

Proxima Centauri b in the game.

Proxima Centauri c in the game.

Proxima Centauri d in the game.

Achievements

General Achievements

• To Infinity... and Beyond! (Unlock Alpha Centauri)

"You’ve left our solar system behind. By journeying to this new star system, we can learn more about the vast cosmos."

Generator Achievements

• Terminal Trip (Rank 3):

"Although Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our own, with our current spacecraft technology, it would still take us 50,000 years to journey to this alien star."

• First Star to the Right (Rank 6):

"Because it is one of the brightest stars in Earth's sky, Alpha Centauri has been featured in many mythologies through the ages. The Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Chinese, and Indigenous Australians all included this star in their legends."

Real Images

An image of the Alpha Centauri AB pair taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

An image of Proxima Centauri taken in 2013 by the Hubble Space Telescope

Sources

• Alpha Centauri — first image above taken
• Proxima Centauri — second image above taken