LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Alpha Centauri: Proxima Centauri
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The difficulty lies in the fact that Alpha Centauri is actually a triple-star system. Proxima Centauri is too far away from the others and too small for it to have much of an effect on any planets orbiting A or B. But those two stars are quite close together; the changing gravitational pull from one star or the other might cause the orbits of any planets around one or both of them to be unstable. If the distance of a planet from either A or B exceeds about one fifth of the closest approach of the other star, then no stable planet orbit is possible. This limits the region in which planets can successfully form to about twice the Earth-Sun distance. This means that both Alpha Centauri A and B might have one or two planets at a distance where there's enough warmth for water to be a liquid, and where orbits are stable.
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This assumption came under fire about 12 years ago when a group of researchers used the best data on hand to calculate that the Alpha Centauri system doesn't have enough gravity to hold onto Proxima Centauri. One possibility is that astronomers just miscalculated their masses. Or maybe the stars are all moving together, so it just looks like Proxima is moving too quickly.
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Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star, slightly larger and brighter than the Sun, of spectral type G2 and apparent magnitude +0.01. Spectral type indicates a star’s surface temperature and the predominant color of the light it gives off. Apparent magnitude is a measure of how bright stars appear in the sky—a small, nearby star may appear just as bright as a much larger star that is farther away. The lower the apparent magnitude, the brighter the star appears. Alpha Centauri B is a yellow-orange star somewhat smaller and cooler than the Sun of spectral type K1 and apparent magnitude +1.34. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star of spectral type M5, much smaller and cooler than the Sun.
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Alpha Centauri... known as Rigil Kentaurus is the fourth brightest star system in Earth's night sky, located within the Centaurus constellation. Though the system appears as a single bright point in sky the system is actually made up of three stars. The system is the closest star system to Earth at 4.37 light-years. Its closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light-years away. The other two stars in the system are classified as Centauri A and B.
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Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star with a spectral type of G2, exactly the same as the Sun's. Therefore its temperature and color ... match those of the Sun. Alpha Centauri B is an orange star with a spectral type of K1. Whereas Alpha Centauri A and B are stars like the Sun, Proxima is a dim red dwarf with a spectral type of M5 - much fainter, cooler, and smaller than the Sun. Proxima is so faint that astronomers did not discover it until 1915.
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The Alpha-Proxima Centauri system is an excellent source of projects. All three stars are extremely well characterized, and it’s interesting to look at the sorts of orbits that the configuration can support. In the Fall 2004 course, first-year UCSC graduate student Jeremy Wertheimer started to work on the following problem:
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Proxima Centauri