| A Few of the Nearest (Greatest Parallax) Stars | ||||
| Name (parallax rank†) | Apparent Magnitude, mv | Parallax, π["] | Distance, D [pc] | Distance, D [ly] |
| Proxima Centauri* (1) | 11.10 | 0.770 | 1.30 | 4.24 |
| α Centauri* (2,3) | -0.29 | 0.748 | 1.33 | 4.35 |
| Barnard's Star (4) | 9.54 | 0.544 | 1.83 | 5.98 |
| Wolf 359 (5) | 13.46 | 0.419 | 2.39 | 7.78 |
| Sirius** (7,8) | -1.46 | 0.378 | 2.62 | 8.55 |
| ε Eridani (13) | 3.73 | 0.305 | 3.28 | 10.70 |
| 61 Cygni** (17,18) | 4.79 | 0.298 | 3.49 | 11.37 |
| Procyon** (19,20) | 0.38 | 0.287 | 3.49 | 11.38 |
*α Centauri is a binary star. It and Proxima Centauri may be bound together as a triple system with a period of the order of one-half million years. Proxima is the closest member of the system to the sun. The given magnitude for α Centauri is the combined magnitude of A and B.
**Indicates other binary stars. The components of each are at virtually the same distance. The combined magnitudes for each system are given.
†Since the number of stars per unit volume of space (luminosity function) increases rapidly with decreasing luminosity, it is likely that there remain undiscovered stars closer than some members of this list.