Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard's star

Astronomers have discovered a planet in orbit around one of the closest stars to the Sun, Barnard's star.

The study was co-led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, and from the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya and the Institute of Space Sciences/CSIC in Spain.

The potentially rocky planet, known as Barnard's star b, is a 'super-Earth' with a mass of at least 3.2 times that of the Earth, and it orbits around its host star once every 233 days.

The results, published in the journal Nature, show the planet lies at a distant region from the star known as the 'snow line'. This is well beyond the habitable zone in which liquid water, and possibly life, could exist.

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Credit: Credit ESO-M. Kornmesser

Artist's impression of the surface of Barnard's star b. Credit ESO-M. Kornmesser.

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Credit: IEEC/Science-Wave - Guillem Ramisa

Artist’s impression of Barnard’s Star planet under the orange tinted light from the star.

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Credit: IEEC/Science-Wave - Guillem Ramisa

Graphic representation of the relative distances to the nearest stars from the Sun. Barnard’s star is the second closest star system, and the nearest single star to us.

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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.

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..

This artist’s impression pans over the surface of this freezing, shadowy world.