Four Tiny Rocky Planets Found Orbiting Nearby Barnard's Star

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Scientists have confirmed four rocky planets orbiting Barnard's Star, just six light-years away, ending a century-long search for worlds around our cosmic neighbor.

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These tiny planets range from 19% to 34% of Earth's mass and zip around their star in just 2 to 7 days, making them some of the smallest exoplanets ever found.

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The planets orbit so close to Barnard's Star that all four could fit inside the orbit of NASA's Parker Solar Probe, with some separated by just 1.5 times the Earth-Moon distance.

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"It's a really exciting find—Barnard's Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about it," said researcher Ritvik Basant from the University of Chicago.

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Due to their tight orbits, these planets are too hot for life, with researchers confirming no planets exist in the star's habitable zone where liquid water could survive.

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Astronomers detected the planets by measuring tiny wobbles in Barnard's Star using specialized instruments that can spot movements caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.

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The discovery provides crucial insights into planet formation around red dwarf stars—the most common star type in our galaxy—suggesting small rocky planets may be extremely widespread.

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The findings were independently confirmed by two different research teams using separate telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, providing strong evidence these planets are real and not "phantoms in the data."

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Professor Jacob Bean captured the significance: "We found something that humanity will hopefully know forever. That sense of discovery is incredible."

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[{"selector":"#anim-cda6297d-d5ec-445d-83d6-076b2b7c87e5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-bc8727bc-c7b5-49e6-bca9-476a79fb3442","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-964b9f1a-a672-4cf5-bd8a-3df42c40b17b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-114.50152%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0bd29414-0eb6-46f6-a8e5-ca541d236983","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":700,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-135b6672-6eee-451b-b8b2-238f6d1c3686","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(115.23810%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":700,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Seven-Planet Alignment on February 28; Next in 2040 Learn more