<p>Yes the Alpha Centauri system is moving closer and it's not the only one. Barnard's Star, the fastest moving star in our skies, will get close sooner. The major concern is whether or not they will get close enough to disrupt our Oort cloud.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3Bqxg.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3Bqxg.png" alt="Near stars, past &amp; future"></a></p>

<p>This <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Near-stars-past-future-en.svg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">diagram</a> shows the relative distance of various nearby stars over time. So Alpha Centauri was close to 6LY away 20,000 years ago and will be at its closest position at around 3LY about 30,000 years from now.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-12T03:37:17.617Z
2020-03-19T09:46:10.593Z
2020-03-19T09:46:10.593Z
gridflash
<p>Yes, it's moving closer.</p>

<p>Per <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars_and_brown_dwarfs#/media/File:Near-stars-past-future-en.svg" rel="noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>.  </p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars_and_brown_dwarfs#Future_and_past" rel="noreferrer">Source</a>.</p>

<p>In about 30,000 years Alpha Centauri will be 3 (and change) light years away, then it will start moving further away.  </p>

<p>If anyone wants to provide a more detailed explanation on stellar movement and charts, please feel free.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T00:55:53.643Z
2017-11-09T00:55:53.643Z
userLTK
<p>The closest star system after our sun is Alpha Centauri, a three star system with Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf, slightly closer to us than the other 2, around 4.3 light years. I tried <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> and <a href="https://www.space.com/32560-alpha-centauri-what-we-know.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">other artic</a>les that describe Alpha Centauri and there is plenty of information, but no where could a find an answer to said question.  </p>

<p>My presumption is that if the distance is measurable, so should the variance in this distance.</p>

<distances>
Is the Alpha Centauri star system moving closer to us?
0tyranny0poverty
# Is the Alpha Centauri star system moving closer to us?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-08)

The closest star system after our sun is Alpha Centauri, a three star system with Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf, slightly closer to us than the other 2, around 4.3 light years. I tried [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri) and [other artic](https://www.space.com/32560-alpha-centauri-what-we-know.html)les that describe Alpha Centauri and there is plenty of information, but no where could a find an answer to said question.

My presumption is that if the distance is measurable, so should the variance in this distance.

**Tags:** distances


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-09. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Yes, it's moving closer.

Per [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars_and_brown_dwarfs#/media/File:Near-stars-past-future-en.svg).

[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars_and_brown_dwarfs#Future_and_past).

In about 30,000 years Alpha Centauri will be 3 (and change) light years away, then it will start moving further away.

If anyone wants to provide a more detailed explanation on stellar movement and charts, please feel free.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-12. Score: 4

Yes the Alpha Centauri system is moving closer and it's not the only one. Barnard's Star, the fastest moving star in our skies, will get close sooner. The major concern is whether or not they will get close enough to disrupt our Oort cloud.

[![Near stars, past & future](https://i.sstatic.net/3Bqxg.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3Bqxg.png)

This [diagram](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Near-stars-past-future-en.svg) shows the relative distance of various nearby stars over time. So Alpha Centauri was close to 6LY away 20,000 years ago and will be at its closest position at around 3LY about 30,000 years from now.


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