Distances of the nearest stars from 20,000 years ago until 80,000 years in the future
Gliese 445 is currently 17.1 light-years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 10.8. It is visible all night long from locations north of the Tropic of Cancer, but not to the naked eye.[10] Because the star is a red dwarf with a mass only a quarter to a third of that of the Sun, scientists question the ability of this system to support life.[10] Gliese 445 is also a known X-ray source.[11]
The Voyager 1 probe will pass within 1.6 light-years of Gliese 445 in about 40,000 years.[12]
Solar encounter
While the Voyager probe moves through space towards a 1.6-light-year minimum distance from Gliese 445, the star is rapidly approaching the Sun. At the time the probe passes Gliese 445, the star will be about 1.059 parsecs (3.45 light-years) from the Sun,[13] but with less than half the brightness necessary to be seen with the naked eye.[10] At that time, Gliese 445 will be approximately tied with Ross 248 for being the closest star to the Sun (see List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs#Distant future and past encounters).
^ abUrban, S. E.; Zacharias, N.; Wycoff, G. L.; Observatory, U. S. Naval; Washington, D. C. (2004). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: The UCAC2 Bright Star Supplement (Urban+, 2006)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog. Bibcode:2004yCat.1294....0U.
^Lépine, Sébastien; Hilton, Eric J.; Mann, Andrew W.; Wilde, Matthew; Rojas-Ayala, Bárbara; Cruz, Kelle L.; Gaidos, Eric (2013). "A Spectroscopic Catalog of the Brightest (J < 9) M Dwarfs in the Northern Sky". The Astronomical Journal. 145 (4): 102. arXiv:1206.5991. Bibcode:2013AJ....145..102L. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/145/4/102. S2CID117144290.
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