The 10 parsec sample in the Gaia era

Vol. 650
14. Catalogs and data

The 10 parsec sample in the Gaia era

A new sample of the nearest objects has been released, containing complete relevant data for all known stars within 10 pc from the Sun. It highlights the richness and variety of the solar neighborhood with objects of all multiplicity combinations, sizes, and ages. The Gaia mission has revolutionized the exploration of our galaxy, including much improvement regarding knowledge on the nearest stars. The new database contains updated astrometry and photometry from the Gaia Early Data Release 3, complemented with literature magnitudes, spectral types, and radial velocities, along with a precious list of references to aid future studies. This updated census of 541 objects within 10 pc, which are mostly stars but also a surprising number of brown dwarfs and exoplanets, reveals a high multiplicity frequency (28% of them are in binary or multiple systems). The vast majority of stars are M-dwarfs (61%), which are the most common type of stars in the Milky Way. Our neighbors are the most important ones in terms of future exploration, as they are the easiest systems to be scrutinized and will, one day, be the first targets for human space travel.