Barnard's Star

This is the 6th in a new series based on nearby stars. An easy walk up from the High Line Canal Trail along an off-road track. Should be easy to locate, please don't walk onto the golf course or the fenced off construction area to the North.

Barnard's Star is a very-low-mass red dwarf about six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth-closest known individual star to the Sun (after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system) and the closest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite its proximity, it is not visible with the unaided eye; however, it is much brighter in the infrared than it is in visible light. Barnard's Star is among the most studied red dwarfs because of its proximity and favorable location for observation near the celestial equator. Although Barnard's Star is an ancient star, it still experiences star flare events, one being observed in 1998.

For a decade, from the early 1960s to the early 1970s, Peter van de Kamp claimed that there were one or more gas giants in orbit around it. Although the presence of small terrestrial planets around Barnard's Star remains a possibility, Van de Kamp's specific claims of large gas giants were refuted in the mid-1970s.

Barnard's Star was studied as part of Project Daedalus. Undertaken between 1973 and 1978, the study suggested that rapid, unmanned travel to another star system was possible with existing or near-future technology. Barnard's Star was chosen as a target partly because it was believed to have planets.The theoretical model suggested that a nuclear pulse rocket employing nuclear fusion and accelerating for four years could achieve a velocity of 12% of the speed of light. The star could then be reached in 50 years, within a human lifetime.Along with detailed investigation of the star and any companions, the interstellar medium would be examined and baseline astrometric readings performed.

The initial Project Daedalus model sparked further theoretical research. In 1980, Robert Freitas suggested a more ambitious plan: a self-replicating spacecraft intended to search for and make contact with extraterrestrial life.Built and launched in Jovian (Jupiter's) orbit, it would reach Barnard's Star in 47 years under parameters similar to those of the original Project Daedalus. Once at the star, it would begin automated self-replication, constructing a factory, initially to manufacture exploratory probes and eventually to create a copy of the original spacecraft after 1,000 years.