For a century, astronomers have been studying Bernard's stars in the hopes of finding planets around them. First discovered by Ee Barnard at the Yerkes Observatory in 1916, it is the closest single star system to Earth. I'm using an astronomer now Maroon-X Instruments At the Gemini Northeres Scope, half of the NSF's International Gemini Observatory, there is solid evidence of three exoplanets around Bernard's star, two of which were previously classified as candidates. We also combined data from Maroon-X with data from Espresso instrument ESO's very large telescope confirms the existence of a fourth planet and raises it from candidate to candidate genuine exoplanet.
Illustration of an exoplanet artist orbiting Bernard's star. Image credits: International Gemini Observatory / Noirlab / NSF / Aura / P. Marenfeld.
Bernard's star is an M3.5 type star in the constellation of Ophetus.
Alpha Centauri's triple steller system is the closest star to the Sun, almost six light years away.
Also known as the Gliese 699 or GJ 699, Bernard's star is thought to be 10 billion years old due to its slow spin and low levels of activity.
According to a new study, stars host at least four planets, each with only about 20-30% of the Earth's mass.
They are very close to their home star, so in a few days they zip around the entire star.
It probably means they are too hot so uninhabitable, but this discovery is a new benchmark for discovering small planets around nearby stars.
“It's a really exciting discovery. The Bernard star is our universe's neighbor, but even so, we know little about it,” said doctoral degree Ritvik Basant. A student at the University of Chicago.
“The accuracy of these new instruments from previous generations signal a breakthrough.”
Stars are much brighter than planets, so it's easy to find the effects that planets have on them – such as watching the wind by seeing how the flag moves.
The Maroon-X instrument looks for one such effect. The gravity of each planet is pulled slightly towards the position of the star. In other words, the stars seem to wobble back and forth.
Maroon-X can measure the color of light very accurately, pick up these small shifts, and even bully the number of planets that have to circumvent the stars to have this effect.
Basant and colleagues rigorously coordinated and analyzed data taken on 112 different nights over three years.
They found solid evidence of three planets around Bernard's star.
When the team combined the findings with data from espresso instruments, they saw good evidence of the fourth planet.
“These planets are probably rocky planets, not gas planets like Jupiter,” the astronomer said.
“It would be hard to secure it secured. The angle seen from Earth means that they cannot see them crossing in front of the stars.
“But by gathering information about similar planets around other stars, we can make better guesses about their makeup.”
Team's Survey results It was released today Astrophysics Journal Letter.
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Ritvik Basant et al. 2025. Four sub-Earth planets orbiting Bernard's star from Maroon X and Espresso. apjl 982, L1; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ADB8D5
Source: www.sci.news
