38, 39 ] Absolute Magnitude 33 
to any great extent. The stars within a distance of 4 parsecs at present 
known are shewn in the following table: 
Table IV. The nearest Stars in order of Distance. 
Star 
Parallax 
Visual 
Mag. 
Absolute 
Mag. 
Luminosity 
Spectral 
Type 
Mass 
(Sun as 
unity) 
1 
Sun 
-26-72 
4-85 
1 
GO 
1 
2 
Proxima Centauri 
0-765 
10-5 
14-9 
o-oooio 
M 
— 
a Centauri A 
0-758 
0-33 
4-73 
1-12 
GO 
1-14 
a Centauri B 
0-758 
1-70 
6-10 
0-32 
K 5 
0-97 
3 
Munich 15040 
0-538 
9-67 
13-32 
0-00041 
M 5 
— 
4 
Wolf 359 
0-404 
13-5 
16-5 
0-00002 
M6 
— 
5 
Lalande 21185 
0-392 
7-60 
10-57 
0-0051 
M2 
— 
6 
Sirius A 
0-377 
-1-58 
1-30 
26-3 
AO 
2-45 
Sirius B 
0-377 
8-44 
11-32 
0 0026 
A 7 
085 
7 
B.D. -12°, 4523 
0-350 
10 
12-7 
0-00072 
— 
— 
8 
Innes (llh. 12 m. -57‘2) 
0-340 
12 
14-7 
o-oooii 
— 
— 
9 
Cordoba 5 h. 243 
0-317 
9-2 
11-7 
0-0018 
MO 
— 
10 
r Ceti 
0-315 
3-6 
6-1 
0-32 
KO 
— 
11 
Procyon A 
0-312 
0-5 
3 0 
5-5 
F 5 
1-24 
Procyon B 
0-312 
13-5 
16-0 
0-00003 
— 
0-39 
12 
e Eridani 
0-310 
3-8 
6-3 
0-26 
KO 
— 
13 
61 Cygni A 
0-300 
5-6 
8-0 
0-055 
K 7 
— 
61 Cygni B 
0-300 
6-3 
8-7 
0-029 
K 8 
— 
14 
Lacaille 9352 
0-292 
7-4 
9-7 
0 011 
MO 
15 
Struve 2398 A 
0-287 
8-7 
110 
0-0035 
M 4 
Struve 2398 B 
0-287 
9-4 
11-7 
0-0018 
M 4 
— 
16 
Groombridge 34 
0-282 
8-1 
10-4 
0-0060 
M2 
— 
17 
e Indi 
0-281 
4-7 
6-9 
015 
K 5 
— 
18 
Kruger 60 A 
0-256 
9-3 
11-3 
0-0026 
M3 
0-25 
Kruger 60 B 
0-256 
10-8 
12-8 
0-0007 
M 
0-20 
19 
Oh. 43-9 m. +4-55 
0-255 
12-3 
14-3 
0-00017 
F 
— 
20 
Lacaille 8760 
0-253 
66 
8-6 
0-032 
MO 
— 
Counting the components of binary and multiple systems as separate stars, 
we see that 27 stars are known to lie within a sphere of 4 parsecs radius 
drawn around the sun as centre. For almost all purposes these 27 stars form 
the best sample we can obtain of the stars as a whole, for as soon as we go 
further afield than 4 parsecs, certain types of stars are likely to have remained 
undiscovered, so that the discovered stars do not form a true sample of the 
whole. 
On dividing the 27 individual stars into groups according to their absolute 
magnitudes, the numbers in the different groups are found to be as follows: 
Abs. Mag. 0 <—4 <—> 8 -<—12 -<—> 16 - 5 
No. of stars 2 7 10 8 
and we notice that stars whose luminosity is less than that corresponding to 
if = 4 are distributed fairly evenly amongst the different absolute magnitudes. 
J 
3