Alpha Centauri
Star system in the Centaurus constellation
Follow Alpha Centauri on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on Remembrance of Earth's Past, Lost in Space, Breakthrough Starshot, Killzone, Civilization IV, Civilization II, The Redemption of Time, Civilization Revolution, Civilization III, Footfall, Civilization Revolution 2, Candidate 1, Colony Wars, Voyage to the End of the Universe, Project Longshot, AIMStar ... and more.
| April 7 2025 | Researchers from Brown University and TU Delft develop an AI-optimized ultra-thin light sail for interstellar missions. The light sail is only 200 nanometers thick, featuring billions of nanoscale holes that reduce weight and increase reflectivity, potentially revolutionizing interstellar travel capabilities. |
| March 2024 | Follow-up observations of Alpha Centauri A are planned for March 2024 using the James Webb Space Telescope. |
| March 21 2024 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
A live-action, English-language Netflix series based on the trilogy premiered, with David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo as showrunners.
|
| July 27 2023 | James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continued coronographic observations of Alpha Centauri A, completing a two-day observation period that resulted in failure. |
| July 26 2023 | James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) conducted coronographic observations of Alpha Centauri A on July 26 and 27, which were ultimately unsuccessful. |
| January 15 2023 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
A Chinese live-action series based on The Three-Body Problem began airing.
|
| 2022 | Proxima Centauri d was detected, with a mass of about 0.26 Earth masses and a periodicity of 5.15 days. |
| 2022 | A study disputed the existence of Proxima Centauri c. |
| December 10 2022 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
A Chinese animated series based on The Dark Forest began airing.
|
| November 2022 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
BBC Studios produced a 3-part documentary series called 'Rendezvous with the Future' exploring the science behind Liu Cixin's science fiction, released by Bilibili in China.
|
| 2021 |
The Sparrow
Scott Frank announced plans to adapt The Sparrow as a miniseries for FX, with Johan Renck potentially directing and Frank, Renck, and Mark Johnson signed as executive producers.
|
| February 2021 |
Alpha Centauri Ab
First direct imaging of a potential exoplanet candidate (Candidate 1 or Alpha Centauri Ab) around Alpha Centauri A star system. The candidate has a potential orbital distance of approximately 1.1 AU and an orbital period of about one year.
|
| 2020 |
Civilization II
One of the potential game victory conditions is surviving until 2020 AD, marking the end of a civilization's historical progression in the game.
|
| 2020 | Alpha Centauri A and B components observed with a separation of 5.49 arcseconds through position angle of 345.3°. |
| June 2020 | A possible direct imaging detection suggested the presence of a large ring system around Proxima Centauri c. |
| 2019 |
The Sparrow
SETI program at Arecibo Observatory discovers radio broadcasts of music from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri, initiating the first interstellar mission organized by the Society of Jesus.
|
| July 16 2019 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Ken Liu translated The Redemption of Time into English, published by Tor Books.
|
| March 21 2019 | Sprite spacecraft successfully transmitted data before reentering Earth's atmosphere and burning up, completing their experimental mission. |
| March 18 2019 | Sprite spacecraft were deployed from the ISS, demonstrating the potential of miniature spacecraft technology. |
| November 17 2018 | 105 Sprite spacecraft were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on the KickSat-2 mission. |
| August 10 2018 | The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially approves the name Toliman for α Centauri B and Rigil Kentaurus for α Centauri A. |
| 2017 | Precise radial velocity measurements confirmed that Proxima Centauri is gravitationally bound to Alpha Centauri AB system. |
| July 2017 | Scientists successfully launched precursor Sprite spacecraft through Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by ISRO from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, marking an important milestone for the StarChip prototype technology. |
| 2016 | European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers discovered Proxima Centauri b, a terrestrial planet with an estimated minimum mass of 1.17 Earth masses, located in the star's habitable zone. |
| 2016 | The IAU Working Group on Star Names decides to attribute proper names to individual component stars of the Alpha Centauri system. |
| August 2016 | Civilization IV was placed 11th on Time's The 50 Best Video Games of All Time list. |
| February 2016 | Closest recent approach of Alpha Centauri A and B stars, observed at 4.0 arcseconds through position angle of 300°. |
| 2015 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Waterdrop, a Chinese short film based on The Dark Forest, was released.
|
| 2014 |
The Sparrow
AMC announced plans to develop a television adaptation of The Sparrow.
|
| February 27 2014 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
A Chinese Minecraft machinima animated series based on the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy began releasing.
|
| 2011 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Chongqing Press published The Redemption of Time with Liu Cixin's permission, under the title Three-Body X: Aeon of Contemplation.
|
| 2010 |
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Li Jun (writing as Baoshu) originally posted The Redemption of Time as fan fiction on an internet forum.
|
| 2010 | Civilization Anonymous marketing campaign was updated for Civilization V, targeting a broader audience and acknowledging mobile game editions, with a contest offering $2,500 and a limited edition poster for video submissions from 'Civilization addicts'. |
| February 2010 | At the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the game's theme song 'Baba Yetu' won Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist, becoming the first video game theme to win a Grammy Award. |
| January 2010 | A Mac digital version of Civilization IV was released on gameagent.com. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Civilization IV, Alpha Centauri, Alpha Centauri Ab, Remembrance of Earth's Past, Civilization II, The Sparrow (novel) & Breakthrough Starshot, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.