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Barnard's star

American  
[bahr-nerdz] / ˈbɑr nərdz /

noun

  1. 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.


Barnard's star British  

noun

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

"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 Scientific  
/ bärnərdz /
  1. 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).


Etymology

Origin of Barnard's star

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

New infrared-enabled telescopes can image brown dwarfs effectively and have led to a raft of new discoveries — including a pair of dwarfs just past Barnard’s star.

From The Verge

There’s the three-star Alpha Centauri system about four light-years away and Barnard’s star about six light-years out.

From The Verge

A recently discovered exoplanet that orbits Barnard's Star – known as Barnard b – could have the potential for extraterrestrial life if water exists somewhere on the planet.

From Fox News

Though Barnard b was only discovered a few months ago, Barnard's Star has been on the radar of the astrophysicists for some time, Guinan added.

From Fox News

“Also, Barnard’s Star is about twice as old as the Sun – about 9 billion years old compared to 4.6 billion years for the Sun. The universe has been producing Earth-size planets far longer than we, or even the Sun itself, have existed.”

From Fox News