Barnard's Star

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Barnard's Star
Barnard2005.gif
Movement of Barnard's star, as seen from the sky of Earth
Stellar characteristics
ConstellationOphiuchus
Right ascension (Epoch J2000)17h 57m 48.5s
Declination (Epoch J2000)+04° 41' 36"
Spectral typeM4 Ve
Distance from Sol5.94 ly
Other designationsBarnard's Runaway Star, BD+04°3561a, GCTP 4098.00, Gl 140-024, Gliese 699, HIP 87937, LFT 1385, LHS 57, LTT 15309, Munich 15040, Proxima Ophiuchi, V2500 Ophiuchi, Vyssotsky 799
PlanetsNew Alaska (Barnard I)
  • Seward (Barnard I.1)
  • Rezanov (Barnard I.2)
  • Helen's Moon (Barnard I.3)[1]
New Oklahoma (Barnard II)
New Texas (Barnard III)
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Barnard's Star, also known occasionally as Barnard's Runaway Star, is a very low-mass red dwarf star approximately six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Snake-holder). In 1916, astronomer E.E. Barnard measured its proper motion as 10.3 arcseconds per year, which remains the largest-known proper motion of any star relative to the Sun.

In the 1970s, Barnard's Star was the proposed destination for the British space exploration Project Daedalus, because it was then believed to have a planetary system.

Barnard's Star System

The Barnard system was given a cursory fly-by by the Trekkies in 2009. The first real survey of the star system was the Discovery-Challenger Expedition of 2015, the first major interstellar mission by the Artemis Foundation. The expedition mapped three planets, New Alaska, New Oklahoma and New Texas.

New Texas and New Oklahoma are both small gas giants in the Uranus/Neptune style, both with extensive moon systems. New Alaska is a superterrestrial world, roughly three times as massive as Earth, and sits on the outer edge of Barnard's water band; the planet is covered in ice from pole to equator. Despite this, it appears that New Alaska has life, a cryogenic biosphere discovered in ice cores taken by Challenger similar to isolated ecosystems found under Earth's polar caps.

GCU Yuri Gagarin has since made a solo mission to Barnard's Star.

Closest Neighbors

The following star systems are located within 10 light-years of Barnard's Star.

11 Stars in 7 Star Systems of Interest to Barnard's Star Fen
Star System Distance from
Barnard's Star
Travel Time Interwave Lag
Ross 154 5.5 ly 4.01 days 4.82 hours
Sol 5.94 ly 4.34 days 5.21 hours
Rigil Kentaurus A and Rigil Kentaurus B 6.5 ly 4.74 days 5.70 hours
Proxima Centauri 6.6 ly 4.82 days 5.79 hours
BD-12 4523 A and B 9.1 ly 6.64 days 7.98 hours
61 Cygni A and 61 Cygni B 9.5 ly 6.93 days 8.33 hours
Struve 2398 A and B 9.5 ly 6.93 days 8.33 hours

Notes

  1. Named for Artemis founder Noah Scott's daughter Helen