The AsterNym star registry
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star: the pale star of Ophiuchus
pale · Ophiuchus · V2500 Oph
Barnard's Star is a pale star in the constellation Ophiuchus, one of the stars with a proper name recognised in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. At magnitude 9.54 it is a binocular or telescope object.
Most stars in the sky are anonymous points of light. Barnard's Star is not. Some IAU-recognised names are ancient; others were adopted by the IAU only recently. Either way, the star already has a scientific identity, and a dedication attaches a human story to it.
Real star · Personal dedication · Recorded in the AsterNym registry
See what a dedicated page looks like: preview
Barnard's Star at a glance
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Other name
- V2500 Oph
- Catalogue number
- HIP 87937
- Distance
- ≈ 6.0 light-years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 9.54 telescope
- Star type
- sdM4
- Colour
- pale
- Best seen from
- Almost everywhere on Earth
- Right ascension
- 17h 57m 49s
- Declination
- +04° 40′ 06″
J2000 catalogue coordinates that can be independently cross-checked against astronomical databases. A planetarium app showing coordinates of date will differ slightly, because proper motion and precession move a star’s apparent position over time.
What kind of star is Barnard's Star?
Barnard's Star is catalogued as a pale star and its spectral type is not cleanly classified in the data behind this page, so what follows stays with what has been measured rather than what could be inferred from it.
Barnard's Star is one of the fastest-moving stars in the sky. It shifts about 1003 arcseconds every century, which sounds tiny and is not: over a human lifetime it visibly changes position against the stars behind it. The constellations are not fixed, they are just slow, and this one is in a hurry.
The light you are looking at is old
Light travels fast but not instantly, so what reaches your eye from Barnard's Star tonight set out in 2020. That is inside a single lifetime. Someone alive now was already alive when this particular light left.
Distance is also the honest limit of what a star can be to you. It is a real object, unimaginably large, and it does not know you exist. What it can be is a fixed point you agreed to attach a meaning to, which is the oldest use people have ever had for the sky.
It sits at the edge of what an unaided eye can do, so finding it is a deliberate act rather than an accident.
What could a Barnard's Star dedication represent?
Barnard's Star is especially meaningful for someone who:
- · Deserves something older than any gift shop
- · Marks a beginning, an anniversary or a promise
- · Is remembered every time you look up
- · Has a light you want recorded somewhere permanent
Dedication idea
“For the one I think of when I find Ophiuchus in the sky.”
Where can you see Barnard's Star?
It sits 5° north of the celestial equator, so it clears the horizon everywhere short of latitude 85°S, in practice, every inhabited latitude on Earth. It passes directly overhead at latitude 5°N. It stands highest at midnight in June, so June and July evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 9.54 it sits below naked-eye reach; binoculars or a small telescope will find it.
Barnard's Star belongs to Ophiuchus.
What does Barnard's Star mean in astrology?
The classical fixed-star tradition: Ptolemy, the medieval Behenian lists, Robson’s 1923 compilation. Is silent on Barnard's Star, and we don’t invent lore where none exists. What astrology can still read is the star’s real position, below.
Projected onto the zodiac the way fixed-star astrology reads any star, Barnard's Star stands at 29° Sagittarius at the J2000 epoch, and the Sun passes that degree around 18 December in the years around 2000. Fixed-star longitude shifts slowly against the tropical zodiac because of precession, about one degree every seventy-two years, so a natal conjunction must be calculated for the birth year rather than read off this J2000 value or a calendar date.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. The position and dates are computed.
Dedicate Barnard's Star to someone who matters
A flower fades. A card is eventually put away. A star gives your message a place in the sky.
from$29.95a year
Dedicate Barnard's Star →Real star · your message · a page to share
Your Barnard's Star dedication includes
- Your chosen dedication name
- Your personal message
- Barnard's Star's real astronomical coordinates
- A shareable dedication page
- Its location on the AsterNym Galaxy Map
- An optional printable certificate and gift presentation
Barnard's Star keeps its established astronomical name. Your dedication is a personal commemorative record within the AsterNym registry.
Frequently asked questions about Barnard's Star
- What does Barnard's Star mean in astrology?
- The classical fixed-star tradition has no documented meaning for Barnard's Star. Projected onto the zodiac, Barnard's Star stands at 29° Sagittarius, and the Sun passes that degree each year around 18 December.
- Is Barnard's Star the brightest star?
- Barnard's Star shines at magnitude 9.54 · a binocular-and-telescope star, one of the few thousand stars with an officially recognised name.
- How far away is Barnard's Star?
- Barnard's Star is approximately 6.0 light-years from Earth. The light reaching us tonight began its journey around 6 years ago.
- Which constellation contains Barnard's Star?
- Barnard's Star is part of Ophiuchus.
- Can everyone see Barnard's Star?
- It sits 5° north of the celestial equator, so it clears the horizon everywhere short of latitude 85°S, in practice, every inhabited latitude on Earth. It passes directly overhead at latitude 5°N. It stands highest at midnight in June, so June and July evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 9.54 it sits below naked-eye reach; binoculars or a small telescope will find it.
- Is dedicating Barnard's Star an official astronomical renaming?
- No. Barnard's Star keeps its internationally recognised astronomical name. An AsterNym dedication records your personal name and message in the AsterNym registry without changing the star's scientific identity.
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