Barnard's Star

Star · Red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus

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About Barnard's Star

Barnard's Star is about 5.95 light-years from the Sun, so the light we see from it left about 5.95 years ago.

At apparent magnitude 9.54 it can only be seen through a telescope.

It gives out 4.43 × 10⁻⁴ times as much light as the Sun.

It has 4 known planets.

The map lists it as a star and shows it among the stars around the Sun, drawn on the plane of the Milky Way.

Four planets confirmed by 2025.

Key numbers

Distance	5.95 light-years (1.82 pc)
Spectral type	sdM4
Apparent magnitude	9.54
Absolute magnitude	13.23
Luminosity	4.43 × 10⁻⁴ × the Sun
Constellation	Oph
Known planets	4

Planets: NASA Exoplanet Archive (Planetary Systems Composite Parameters).

Known planets

Planet	Mass (Earth = 1)	Radius (Earth = 1)	Orbit (days)	Found
Barnard d	0.263	0.694	2.3402	2025, radial velocity
Barnard b	0.299	0.72	3.1542	2024, radial velocity
Barnard c	0.335	0.743	4.1244	2025, radial velocity
Barnard e	0.193	0.637	6.7392	2025, radial velocity

Where it is

Its place in the universe, from the inside out: Solar neighbourhood › Local Bubble › Orion–Cygnus Arm (Local Arm) › Milky Way › Local Group › Virgo Supercluster › Laniakea Supercluster › Observable universe.

Zoom out to see it in context: Nearest stars, a view about 24 light-years across.

From Wikipedia

Barnard's Star is a small red dwarf star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. At a distance of 5.96 light-years (1.83 pc) from Earth, it is the fourth-nearest-known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and is the closest star in the northern celestial hemisphere.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Barnard's Star, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.