Barnard's star

[bahr-nerdz]

noun

a red dwarf star of magnitude 9.5 in the constellation Ophiuchus, having the largest known proper motion and being the nearest star to earth (5.9 light-years) beyond the Alpha Centauri system.

Origin of Barnard's star

after Edward E. Barnard (1857–1923), American astronomer, its discoverer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for barnard's star

Barnard's star

noun

a red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus having the largest proper motion known

Word Origin for Barnard's star

C20: named after Edward Emerson barnard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

barnard's star in Science

Barnard's star

[bär′nərdz]

A dim, main-sequence red dwarf in the constellation Ophiuchus that is the second nearest star to Earth after the Alpha-Centauri system. Although it is only 5.98 light-years from our solar system, it is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. Barnard's star has a greater proper motion (movement with respect to the background stars that is caused by an object's own motion rather than by how it is viewed from Earth) than any other star. Barnard's star is named for its identifier, American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923).