Sky of Your Day
  1. Stars with a name
  2. Barnard's Star

Barnard's Star

HIP 87937

Barnard's Star is a red star, in the constellation Ophiuchus. The light you see from it tonight left it around 2020.

Where to find it

From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it is best seen in the evening sky in June, July, August, and September.

Very faint: you’ll need a telescope. Apparent magnitude 9.54.

What it’s like

Its surface is at about 3,700 degrees.

It is 6.0 light years away: 56 trillion kilometres.

It is the star of people born around 2020: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.

Other named stars in Ophiuchus