Proxima Centauri is a small, cool red-dwarf star on the main sequence, with spectral type roughly M5.5Ve (an M-type main-sequence “flare star”).

Basic star type

  • Proxima Centauri is classified as a red dwarf, meaning a low-mass, low-luminosity main-sequence star cooler than the Sun.
  • Its detailed spectral type is M5.5Ve: M for cool red star, the numbers for its exact temperature range, V for main sequence (dwarf), and “e” for emission lines linked to activity.

Key physical traits

  • It has only about one-eighth of the Sun’s mass and roughly one-seventh to one-sixth of the Sun’s radius, making it much smaller and dimmer than our star.
  • Its surface temperature is near 3,000 K, much cooler than the Sun’s ~5,800 K, giving it a faint reddish appearance.

Activity and flares

  • Proxima Centauri is a flare star: its brightness can spike suddenly due to strong magnetic activity, causing powerful stellar flares.
  • These flares produce intense X-ray and ultraviolet radiation, which can strongly affect any nearby planets’ atmospheres and potential habitability.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.