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Alpha Centauri System
The sun's closest stellar neighbors are Proxima Centauri, Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri in the Alpha Centauri system. Proxima Centauri is the closest at 4.2 light years away, but it is a faint, small red star only visible through a telescope. Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri are 4.3 light years away. They are the third and 10th brightest stars in the night sky.
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star, which is 6 light years from the sun, is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. Barnard's Star holds the distinction of being the star with the greatest proper motion, meaning it moves against the stellar background faster than any other star.
Wolf 359
Wolf 359 is the dimmest of the neighbor stars. The red dwarf, located in constellation Leo the Lion, is just 7.8 light years from the sun.
Luyten 726-8
A binary system composed of the stars Luyten 726-8A and Luyten 726-8B is an estimated distance of 8.4 to 8.7 light years away in the constellation Cetus. The red dwarfs are often referred to by their variable star designation UV Ceti. They can only be seen through a telescope.
Sirius
Sirius the Dog Star is in Canis Major. It is the brightest star in the sky after the sun. Sirius actually is a binary system with the brighter of the stars designated Sirius A and the other Sirius B. Sirius B is dimmer but much hotter than Sirius A. This indicates the white dwarf star is small with a mass nearly the same as the sun condensed into a volume slightly smaller than the Earth.
Ross 154
Ross 154 in the constellation Sagittarius is the seventh closest star system to the sun. This red dwarf is just under 10 light years from the sun. Like Proxima Centauri, Barnard's Star, and Wolf 359, it is a flare star that increases dramatically in brightness for several minutes at an unpredictable interval. It is too faint to view without a telescope.