Four small planets discovered around one of the closest stars to Earth – an expert explains what we know
Coel Hellier, Professor of Astrophysics, Keele University
Barnard’s Star is a small, dim star, of the type that astronomers call red dwarfs. Consequently, even though it is one of the closest stars to Earth, such that its light takes only six years to get here, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Now, four small planets have been found orbiting the star. Teams in America and Europe achieved this challenging detection by exploiting precision instruments on the world’s largest telescopes.
Diminutive Barnard’s Star is closer in size to Jupiter.