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Liu Zhen

If space were indeed the final frontier, Alpha Centauri – the closest star system to the Sun – would certainly be the first stop.
When Captain James Kirk sailed by Alpha Centauri in his starship in the Star Trek series, he might well have encountered Avatar’s blue-skinned Neytiri training her dragon-bird on the Pandora moon, The Transformers’ Autobots looking for their lost planet Cybertron, or even The Three-Body Problem’s supercomputer Sophon on her way from planet Trisolaris to spy on Earth.
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All these amazing fictional planets are located in the Alpha Centauri star system, 4.37 light years away from our solar system, making all the stories’ characters technically Alpha Centaurians.
If there were statistics on all of mankind’s imaginary interstellar space travels from Earth, Alpha Centauri – closer to us than any of the billions of other star systems in our infinite galaxy – would almost certainly be one of the busiest destinations.
Alpha Centauri comprises three stars: a pair of suns, Alpha Centauri A and B, and a small, faint red dwarf, Alpha Centauri C. To the naked eye, the trio together form the third brightest star in the night sky.
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The stars’ closeness to our solar system and Alpha Centauri A and B’s similarities with our Sun have inspired many of our greatest science-fiction writers.
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US author Isaac Asimov dreamt up planet Alpha in Alpha Centauri as the final home for the last of the human refugees in the final book of his sci-fi masterpiece the Foundation series.
British writer Arthur C. Clark in The Songs of Distant Earth described mankind’s arduous journey to planet Pasadena in Alpha Centauri to escape a doomed Earth.
Canadian-American novelist Gordon R. Dickson in his Childe Cycle series detailed life on colony planets, some situated within Alpha Centauri.
And US sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick portrayed an invasion on earth by aliens from an Alpha Centauri planet in his short story Imposter.
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The Chinese literature sphere is no stranger to the Alpha Centauri stellar system either.
Chinese novelist Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award-winning The Three-Body Problem trilogy is centred around planet Trisolaris in Alpha Centauri.

In the series, Trisolarans plot to invade and occupy Earth after their planet’s three unpredictable suns repeatedly cause the destruction of their civilisation.
Centuries ahead of the Trisolaran fleets’ arrival, they send intelligent protons, including a supercomputer named Sophia, to Earth to gather information and interrupt mankind’s scientific studies.
The popular sci-fi series was even quoted by Chinese parliamentary spokeswoman Fu Ying to describe the recent North Korean nuclear crisis. A film adaptation of the first book is scheduled for release in July.
Alpha Centauri’s presence in film and television is not small either, with US TV series Lost in Space and British sci-fi drama Doctor Who, among others.
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While the star system has existed in fiction for centuries, in real life, the so-called discovery of planets in the system have yet to be confirmed. However, it is believed that the planets would be far too close to its suns and thus too hot to sustain life.
But as research continues at finding habitable planets within Alpha Centauri, so will books and movies continue to be written and made about the first stop from Earth in our imagination’s journey towards space’s final frontier.


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A movie still from the 2013 sci-fi action film ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, showing Spock (left), played by Zachary Quinto, and Captain James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine.

A handout image released on October 15, 2012 by European Southern Observatory (ESO) shows an artist impression of a planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B, a member of the triple star system that is the closest to Earth. Alpha Centauri B is the most brilliant object in the sky and the other dazzling object is Alpha Centauri A. Our own Sun is visible to the upper right. The tiny signal of the planet was found with the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6-meter telescope at ESO?s La Silla Observatory in Chile. TOPSHOTS AFP PHOTO / ESO / L. Calcada RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ESO / L. Calcada" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Picture for Features, Sunday Review. The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. UNDATED HANDOUT.

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An artist impression of a planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B, a member of the triple star system is the closest to Earth. Photo: AFP

epa05255309 Russian people take the underground in front of a portrait of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, in a themed Moscow Metro train marking the 55th anniversary of Yury Gagarin's epic space flight and Cosmonaut Day in Moscow, Russia, 12 April 2016. Moscow Metro in conjunction with the Russian Space Agency launched the 'cosmic' train, which is decorated with images of the starry sky, planets and comic ships. Russia is celebrating Cosmonaut Day marking 55 anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering flight into space on 12 April 1961. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking poses for a picture ahead of a gala screening of the documentary 'Hawking', a film about the scientist's life, at the opening night of the Cambridge Film Festival in Cambridge, eastern England on September 19, 2013. Hawking tells the extraordinary tale of how he overcame severe disability to become the most famous living scientist in a new documentary film premiered in Britain. AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIE

Digital Sky Technologies CEO Yuri Milner attends the eG8 forum in Paris May 25, 2011. The eG8 forum gathers "leaders of the Internet" to consider and discuss the future of the Internet and society. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes (FRANCE - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS SCI TECH HEADSHOT)

Tibetan nomads share a motorcycle while riding along a highway some 250 km southwest of Xining on the road to Lajiasi, or Ra'gyagoinba in Tibetan, on March 9, 2009 in northwest China's Qinghai province, a vast region on the Tibetan plateau known as Amdo. Tibetans in northwest China have described their constant fear of Chinese authorities amid what they say is ongoing discrimination and the erosion of their freedoms after riots against Chinese rule erupted on March 14 last year in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, after four days of peaceful protests to mark the 49th anniversary of the uprising, as unrest spread to nearby provinces such as Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu. AFP PHOTO/ Frederic J. BROWN

No Caption Available.

Out of this world: Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin is Asia's first writer to win Hugo award for best novel

Liu Cixin came up with a winning sci-fi formula with his novel set in the Cultural Revolution. Photo: SCMP Pictures 

The first book in Liu's trilogy. Photo: SCMP Pictures

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Teleportation aside, they'd feel right at home on earth. Photo: AP

With The Dark Forest, Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin shows he can revive genre's conventions

This handout image shows Cixin Liu. [01NOVEMBER2015 THE REVIEW BOOKS LEAD]

This handout image shows the cover of the book, ' The Dark Forest ', by Cixin Liu. [01NOVEMBER2015 THE REVIEW BOOKS LEAD]

(151017) -- CHENGDU, Oct. 17, 2015 (Xinhua) -- Sci-fi writer Liu Cixin attends the opening forum for 2015 Xingyun (Nebula) Award for Global Chinese Science Fiction in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Oct. 17, 2015. The annual event, the only international awards for Chinese-language sci-fi writers, was organized by the World Chinese Science Fiction Association, which is based in Chengdu. It was launched in 2010. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)(mcg)

This handout image shows Nebula Awards logo, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America [01NOVEMBER2015 BOOK LEAD THE REVIEW]

Search heats up for life in space

The Square Kilometre Array seeks life forms. Photo: Reuters

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Researchers are studying how to travel to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, but it has for years been featured widely in popular fiction from Star Trek to The Transformers
