AP Columbae: Closest young star to the Earth

Recently, the planetary scientists have discovered the closest young star to Earth.

  • The star, named AP Columbae, is the closest so-called “pre mainsequence” star.
  • It is located in the constellation of Columba, which has been studied for the last 15 years, but was recently discovered to be very young and close to earth.
  • AP Columbae is about 40 million years old, which is very young compared to the age of the Earth; it formed after the dinosaurs became extinct and during a period when mammals were beginning to dominate the Earth.
  • The age of the star was estimated by calculating the amount of lithium present in the star, which rapidly decreases. AP Columbae is classified as a Red dwarf with an estimated surface temperature of 3500°C.
  • The star has not evolved into a main sequence star yet and is still in the pre-main-sequence stage. AP Columbae has a thousandth of the luminosity of our Sun.

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