Wolf 359

system

Wolf 359 is one of the smallest and least luminous stars in the Sun's neighbourhood, 7.9 light-years away in Leo. An M6V red dwarf barely a tenth of the Sun's mass, it is a frequent flare star. No planets are confirmed around it.

Open in 3D viewSee Wolf 359 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Type

Red dwarf (flare star)

Distance

7.86 light-years

Confirmed planets

Science

Classification

Type: Single red-dwarf system (flare star)
Central star: Wolf 359 — M6V red dwarf (~2800 K, ~0.11 M☉)

Planets

Confirmed planets: None

Distance & nature

Distance: 7.86 light-years · the fifth-closest star system to the Sun
Activity: Frequent flares · a UV Ceti-type flare star (CN Leonis)

How we know

Note: No planets are confirmed. Two radial-velocity candidates proposed in 2019 were never confirmed and are not shown. On the map the system sits at a usable distance; the real gap is 7.86 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name: Named for the astronomer Max Wolf and its number (359) in his catalogue.

Catalogued by Max Wolf in 1917 from his photographic proper-motion survey. Two 2019 radial-velocity planet candidates were never confirmed and are not shown.

Images

Where to find it — in Leo, the Lion (IAU constellation chart). It is an unresolved point of light; its surface has never been imaged. — IAU / Sky & Telescope, R. Sinnott & R. Fienberg (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image