How much space is between our solar system and the next closest one?
How much space is between planetary systems? I think the next closest one is Alpha Centauri. How far is that once you leave the solar system? I know that voyager spacecraft left our solar system and is somewhere in deep space; can it ever get to another solar system? or are they all just too far away?
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun at approximately 4.2 light-years
(or 24 trillion miles) away.
The closest solar system is Epsilon Eridanus, which is 10.52ly away
Our solar system extends officially about one light year away from the sun – the exact size of the gravity well of Proxima Centauri is not known, but it will be much smaller, since Proxima Centauri is a much smaller star, maybe about 0.2 light years, so you would have 3 light years of concentrated nothingness between sun and Proxima Centauri…which is actually not that empty, since you have the Galactic medium there….dust and gases.
The nearest star from our own is Proxima Centauri, just over 4 lightyears away.
Space between stars varies, the universe isn’t evenly distributed. How far is 4 lightyears? It’s about 23,513,999,300,000 miles away (that’s 23.5 trillion). As for planets, that’s hard, because planets are extremely difficult to see from Earth. In fact, they’re nearly impossible unless they cross in front of a star while it’s being observed or it’s large enough and bright enough that it couldn’t possibly be life-sustaining (even though that wasn’t your question). We only know of about a hundred or so planets outside our solar system. Most are gas giants, none are Earth-like, although we know that there must be countless planets we can’t see.
Voyager 1 is about 10 billion miles away from the Sun right now but it’s technically still within our solar system. When it passes beyond the boundary, I’m sure it’ll make the news. As for getting to another solar system, yes it’s possible, but not in our lifetime. It will continue to float through space forever, until something hits it and destroys it, or (highly unlikely) some force equal to its velocity outward will push inward and halt its motion entirely.
Interstellar travel and interstellar probes are impossible with today’s technology. You can throw a baseball in outer space and rest assured that it will travel 4 lightyears, but there’s no guarantee it will manage to hit Proxima Centauri, or any other solar system, at all.
The next closest star system is Alpha Centauri. But you asked which is the closest planetary system. It is not known if Alpha Centauri has planets. The closest would be Epsilon Eridani. 10.5 light years away.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061009_nearest_exoplanet.html
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2008-19/release.shtml
So how come William got three thumbs down? He is right.
Epsilon Eridani has the nearest planetary system to ours and is about 10.5 light years away. It has a planet about 1.5 times the size of Jupiter. Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to the Sun, but it has no planets.