Ask A Scientist© Astronomy Archive

We need information for our research project.  What is the approximate mass of
the star Alpha Centauri?  Thank you.
michael geary

Answer:  I'm a little reluctant to answer this one. Part of the purpose of a
research project is to develop skills for searching out information. I tried the 
major encyclopedias, and my almanac, without success; but don't forget the books 
dealing with the topic of interest but which are outside the reference section o f the library.
My source is the astronomy text "Astronomy: the Cosmic Journey" by Wm. Hartmann. 
The star system Alpha Centauri actually consists of three stars: A, whose mass
is 1.1 solar masses; B, whose mass is 0.9 solar mass; and C (also called Proxima 
Centauri), whose mass is only 0.1 solar mass. A solar mass, in turn, is 1.99 x 1 0^30 kg.
rcwinther