What is proper motion?

A star's apparent movement across the sky

What will happen to Barnard's Star's distance over thousands of years?

It will come closer before moving away

Barnard's Star Quiz: The Fastest-Moving Star in Our Sky

A faint red dwarf about six light-years away drifts across the sky by the width of the Moon in less than two centuries, and this Barnard's Star quiz explains why. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on proper motion, E. E. Barnard's 1916 measurement, Ophiuchus, its distance, faintness, past planet claims, recent discoveries, Project Daedalus and its future approach.

Start Barnard's Star Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Record
What record does Barnard's Star hold?
Motion
What is proper motion?
Discoverer
Who measured its fast motion in 1916?
Type
What kind of star is it?
Distance
Roughly how far away is Barnard's Star?
Single
What is special about its closeness?
Visible
Can you see it with the naked eye?
Claims
What did astronomer Peter van de Kamp claim in the 1960s?
Daedalus
Which 1970s interstellar probe study chose Barnard's Star as its target?
Future
What will happen to Barnard's Star's distance over thousands of years?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What record does Barnard's Star hold?
Answer: The largest proper motion of any star
It moves fastest across our sky.
Q2: What is proper motion?
Answer: A star's apparent movement across the sky
It is measured in arcseconds per year.
Q3: Who measured its fast motion in 1916?
Answer: E. E. Barnard
The star bears his name.
Q4: What kind of star is it?
Answer: A red dwarf
It is small and cool.
Q5: Roughly how far away is Barnard's Star?
Answer: About 6 light-years
It is one of our nearest neighbors.
Q6: What is special about its closeness?
Answer: It is the nearest single star to the Sun
Only the Alpha Centauri system is closer.
Q7: Can you see it with the naked eye?
Answer: No, it is too faint
A telescope is needed.
Q8: What did astronomer Peter van de Kamp claim in the 1960s?
Answer: Planets orbiting the star
Later studies did not confirm them.
Q9: Which 1970s interstellar probe study chose Barnard's Star as its target?
Answer: Project Daedalus
It was a British design study.
Q10: What will happen to Barnard's Star's distance over thousands of years?
Answer: It will come closer before moving away
It may become the nearest star for a time.

Barnard'S Star Quiz – The Fastest-Moving Star in Our Sky

Barnard's Star is a red dwarf about 6 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. In 1916 E. E. Barnard found it has the largest proper motion of any star, moving across our sky by about the Moon's width in less than two centuries.

It is the nearest single star to the Sun; only the Alpha Centauri system is closer. Despite its closeness, it is too faint to see without a telescope.

In the 1960s Peter van de Kamp claimed planets around it, but they were not confirmed. More recent studies have reported small rocky planets. The 1970s Project Daedalus study chose it as a target, and it will come closer to the Sun over the next ten thousand years.

What This Quiz Teaches

Space fans will enjoy these questions.

Why the star is famous
Who measured its motion
How far away it is
Which planets were claimed
How it will move

Did You Know?

Its proper motion is about 10 arcseconds per year.
It is older than the Sun.
Red dwarfs are the most common stars.
Its brightness occasionally flares.
It is moving toward us at high speed.