Barnard's Star
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Barnard's Star is a red dwarf about six light years from Earth. That means that at the time of writing anyone based at Barnard's Star is watching Earth TV from 1994 and is presumably fighting over whether Oasis or Blur are better...
It would take two thousand of Barnard's star to put out as much light as the sun. Despite the fact that it's the second nearest star to the Sun (counting the triple-system Alpha Centauri as one) you'd need a decent telescope to see it. It is due to come within 1.5 light years of Earth in the year 9800; you'll still need a decent telescope to see it.
Barnard's Star was discovered in 1916 by Edward Emerson Barnard, an astronomer with presumably far too much time on his hands. With even more time, he measured its rate of motion and discovered that it was moving across the sky at around 1/360 of a degree per year. This is faster than any other star known.
Barnard's Star was mentioned in the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a place where Vogon Constructor Fleets could dock for a 72-hour refit, with no planet leave. It was also where the Heart of Gold picked up Arthur and Ford.
The star was also mentioned in Blur's song 'Far Out' from the Parklife album.
In addition, Barnard's Star was the proposed target for the British Interplanetary Society's spaceprobe Daedalus, a robot starship that would have been propelled by the detonation of nuclear bombs behind it, using the intense blast to push it along.
It is also thought that Barnard's Star may have two planets each of about two-thirds the mass of Jupiter. It was this that attracted the designers of the Daedalus spacecraft.
Aside from this, Barnard's Star has to the best of my knowledge made no impact at all on popular culture.
It would take two thousand of Barnard's star to put out as much light as the sun. Despite the fact that it's the second nearest star to the Sun (counting the triple-system Alpha Centauri as one) you'd need a decent telescope to see it. It is due to come within 1.5 light years of Earth in the year 9800; you'll still need a decent telescope to see it.
Barnard's Star was discovered in 1916 by Edward Emerson Barnard, an astronomer with presumably far too much time on his hands. With even more time, he measured its rate of motion and discovered that it was moving across the sky at around 1/360 of a degree per year. This is faster than any other star known.
Barnard's Star was mentioned in the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a place where Vogon Constructor Fleets could dock for a 72-hour refit, with no planet leave. It was also where the Heart of Gold picked up Arthur and Ford.
The star was also mentioned in Blur's song 'Far Out' from the Parklife album.
In addition, Barnard's Star was the proposed target for the British Interplanetary Society's spaceprobe Daedalus, a robot starship that would have been propelled by the detonation of nuclear bombs behind it, using the intense blast to push it along.
It is also thought that Barnard's Star may have two planets each of about two-thirds the mass of Jupiter. It was this that attracted the designers of the Daedalus spacecraft.
Aside from this, Barnard's Star has to the best of my knowledge made no impact at all on popular culture.
