Barnard’s Star in the Solar neighborhood

The nearest single star to the Sun hosts an exoplanet at least 3.2 times as massive as Earth — a so-called super-Earth. Data from a worldwide array of telescopes, including ESO’s planet-hunting HARPS instrument, have revealed this frozen, dimly lit world. The newly discovered planet is the second-closest known exoplanet to the Earth and orbits the fastest moving star in the night sky..

Named for astronomer E. E. Barnard, Barnard’s Star is the closest single star to the Sun and lies a mere 6 light-years away. This visualisation shows the nearest stars to the Sun, and highlights the location of Barnard’s Star.