Nearest Stars & Planets

Here’s a table of all known star systems within 15 light years (ly) of our Solar System. I will endeavor to keep this list up to date, so please post a comment here if anything needs to be corrected or added.

There are 41 star systems1 within a volume of

V = \frac{4}{3}\pi r^{3} = \frac{4}{3}\pi (15\;ly)^{3} = 14,137\;ly^{3}

Assuming that these 41 star systems are uniformly distributed within a sphere of radius 15 ly, the average distance from any star to its nearest neighbor is given by

\bar{d} = r\left [ \frac{\pi }{3n\;\sqrt[]{2}} \right ]^{\frac{1}{3}} = (15\; ly)\left [ \frac{\pi }{3(41)\;\sqrt[]{2}} \right ]^{\frac{1}{3}} = 3.94\;ly

So, even though it seems that 41 star systems within a distance of 15 ly from our Solar System is a lot, the volume of 14,137 cubic light years is not that small, and the average distance between any star and its nearest neighbor is about 3.94 ly. Our nearest neighbor is Proxima Centauri, which at a distance of 4.24 ly is quite close to the 3.94 ly average distance derived above.

Nearest Stars (within 15 light years)

Star Distance (ly) Spectral Type Constellation Planets?
Sun 0.00 G2V zodiacal Yes
Proxima Centauri 4.24 M5.0V Centaurus Yes
Alpha Centauri A & B 4.36 G2V & K0.0V Centaurus Unknown
Barnard's Star 5.97 M3.5V Ophiuchus Unknown
Luhman 16 A & B 6.59 L8 & T1 Vela Unknown
WISE 0855-0714 7.26 Y2 Hydra Unknown
Wolf 359 7.87 M5.5V Leo Yes
Lalande 21185 8.29 M2.0V Ursa Major Yes
Sirius A & B 8.65 A1V & DA2 Canis Major Unknown
Luyten 726-8 A & B 8.79 M5.5V & M6.0V Cetus Unknown
Ross 154 9.70 M3.5V Sagittarius Unknown
Ross 248 10.29 M5.5V Andromeda Unknown
Epsilon Eridani 10.48 K2.0V Eridanus Yes
Lacaille 9352 10.72 M1.0V Piscis Austrinus Yes
Ross 128 11.01 M4.0V Virgo Yes
EZ Aquarii A, B, & C 11.27 M5.0VJ Aquarius Unknown
61 Cygni A & B 11.40 K5.0V & K7.0V Cygnus Unknown
Procyon A & B 11.44 F5IV-V & DQZ Canis Minor Unknown
Struve 2398 A & B 11.49 M3.0V & M3.5V Draco Yes
Groombridge 34 A & B 11.62 M1.5V & M3.5V Andromeda Yes
DX Cancri 11.68 M6.0V Cancer Unknown
Epsilon Indi A, B, & C 11.81 K4.0V, T1, & T6 Indus Yes
Tau Ceti 11.89 G8.5V Cetus Yes
Gliese 1061 11.98 M5.0V Horologium Yes
YZ Ceti 12.11 M4.0V Cetus Yes
Luyten's Star 12.25 M3.5V Canis Minor Yes
Teegarden's Star 12.50 M6.5V Aries Yes
Kapteyn's Star 12.83 M2.0VI Pictor Unknown
Lacaille 8760 12.95 K9.0V Microscopium Unknown
SCR 1845-6357 A & B 13.05 M8.5 & T6 Pavo Unknown
Kruger 60 A & B 13.08 M3.0V & M4.0V Cepheus Unknown
DENIS J1048-3956 13.19 M8.5V Antlia Unknown
UGPS 0722-05 13.43 T9 Monoceros Unknown
Ross 614 A & B 13.49 M4.0V & M5.5V Monoceros Unknown
Wolf 424 A & B 13.98 M5.0VJ Virgo Unknown
Wolf 1061 14.05 M3.5V Ophiuchus Yes
van Maanen 2 14.07 DZ7 Pisces Unknown
Gliese 1 14.17 M1.5V Sculptor Unknown
TZ Arietis 14.59 M4.0V Aries Yes
Gliese 674 14.84 M2.5V Ara Yes
Gliese 687 14.84 M3.0V Draco Yes
LHS 292 14.90 M6.5V Sextans Unknown

1 Here we are considering Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri A & B to be one star system.

References
Henry, T.J. 2020, The Nearest Stars in The Observer’s Handbook 2023, ed. J. Edgar, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, p. 284-288.