page_title: List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion
section_title: Comets with greatest aphelion (2 body heliocentric)
hierarchical_section_title: List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion / Comets with greatest aphelion (2 body heliocentric)
caption_attribution_description: English: Shining brightly in this Hubble image is our closest stellar neighbour: Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun. However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a “flare star”, meaning that convection processes within the star’s body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged — or a “main sequence” star in astronomical terms — for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current Universe. These observations were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system — its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame. Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbour, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble’s eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the Universe around us.Español: El brillante resplandor en esta imagen del Hubble es nuestro vecino estelar más cercano: Próxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri se encuentra en la constelación de Centaurus (El Centauro), poco más de cuatro años-luz de la Tierra. A pesar de que parece brillante por el ojo de Hubble, como se podría esperar de la estrella más cercana al Sistema Solar, Proxima Centauri no es visible a simple vista. Su luminosidad media es muy baja, y es muy pequeña en comparación con otras estrellas, en sólo alrededor de una octava parte de la masa del Sol Sin embargo, en ocasiones, que aumenta su brillo. Proxima es lo que se conoce como una "estrella bengala", lo que significa que los procesos de convección dentro del cuerpo de la estrella hacen propenso a cambios aleatorios y dramáticos en el brillo. Los procesos de convección no sólo desencadenan brillantes estallidos de luz de las estrellas, pero, en combinación con otros factores, hacen que Proxima Centauri posea una vida muy larga. Los astrónomos predicen que esta estrella se mantendrá de mediana edad - o una estrella "secuencia principal" en términos astronómicos - por otros cuatro billones de años, algunos 300 veces la edad del Universo actual. Estas observaciones fueron tomadas con el campo ancho de Hubble y la cámara planetaria 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri es en realidad parte de un sistema estelar triple - sus dos compañeros, Alpha Centauri A y B, se encuentran fuera del marco. Aunque para los estándares cósmicos es un vecino cercano, Proxima Centauri sigue siendo un objeto puntual incluso utilizando la visión ojos de águila del Hubble, haciendo alusión a la gran escala del universo que nos rodea.
context_page_description: This is a list of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion or the greatest distance from the Sun that the orbit takes it. For the purposes of this list, it is implied that the object is orbiting the Sun in a two-body solution without the influence of the planets or passing stars. The aphelion can change significantly due to the gravitational influence of planets and other stars. Most of these objects are comets on a calculated path and may not be directly observable. For instance, comet Hale-Bopp was last seen in 2013 at magnitude 24 and continues to fade, making it invisible to all but the most powerful telescopes.
  The maximum extent of the region in which the Sun's gravitational field is dominant, the Hill sphere, may extend to 230,000 astronomical units as calculated in the 1960s. But any comet currently more than about 150,000 AU from the Sun can be considered lost to the interstellar medium. The nearest known star is Proxima Centauri at 271,000 AU which is 4.22 light years, followed by Alpha Centauri at about 4.35 light years away according to NASA.
  Comets are thought to orbit the Sun at great distances, but then be perturbed by passing stars and the galactic tides.
context_section_description: C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS)  24373
  C/1958 R1 (Burnham-Slaughter)   24299
  C/2010 D3 (WISE)  23255
  C/2001 K5 (LINEAR)  22810
  C/1991 R1 (McNaught-Russell)   22313
  C/2009 U5 (Grauer)  21191
  C/2014 OE4 (PANSTARRS) 21176
  C/1977 V1 (Tsuchinshan) 19631
  C/1888 P1 (Brooks) 19612
  C/2011 N2 (McNaught) 19536
  C/1910 P1 (Metcalf) 19190
  C/1882 F1 (Wells)  19135
  C/1984 W2 (Hartley) 19000
  C/2002 K1 (NEAT)  18858
  C/2002 C2 (LINEAR)  18034
  C/2008 Q3 (Garradd)  17850
  C/2013 F2 (Catalina)  16812
  C/2010 H1 (Garradd)  16721
  C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley)   16693
  C/2004 P1 (NEAT)  16107
  C/1974 F1 (Lovas)  15129
  C/2013 J5 (Boattini)  14297
  C/2006 Q1 (McNaught)  13768
  C/2014 Q6 (PANSTARRS)  13761
  C/1975 V1-A (West)  13560
  C/1999 F1 (Catalina)  13390
caption: Proxima Centauri is 271,000 AU or 4.25 light years away
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Shining brightly in this Hubble image is our closest stellar neighbour: Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun. However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a \u201cflare star\u201d, meaning that convection processes within the star\u2019s body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged \u2014 or a \u201cmain sequence\u201d star in astronomical terms \u2014\u00a0for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current Universe. These observations were taken using Hubble\u2019s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system \u2014 its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame. Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbour, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble\u2019s eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the Universe around us."}