These days, researchers commonly discover exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. But sometimes theres a special discovery, like an exoplanet right in our backyard and thats the case with a recent finding showing that our nearest stellar neighbor, Barnards Star, hosts up to four exoplanets.Its most common for scientists to discover planets which are large and which orbit close to their bright stars, because these are most visible using exoplanet detection methods. But Barnards Star is different its a common type of cool, low-mass planet called a red dwarf. Red dwarfs are very numerous in our galaxy, so scientists are interested in the kinds of planets that they can host as they could be a good location to look for evidence of life.Recommended VideosThe recent findings up the number of exoplanets orbiting Barnards Star from one to at least three, possibly four, as researchers were able to use the MAROON-X instrument on the Gemini North telescope to confirm the existence of planets that were previously only candidates.Please enable Javascript to view this contentIts a really exciting find Barnards Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about it, said lead author Ritvik Basan of the University of Chicago in a statement. Its signaling a breakthrough with the precision of these new instruments from previous generations.Previously, Barnards Star has been considered the great white whale for exoplanet hunters because although it is nearby to us, at just six light-years away, the fact it is so small and dim makes it difficult to be certain about the presence of exoplanets. In this case, two different groups of researchers using different instruments both found indications of exoplanets, making them confident that they exist there.We observed at different times of night on different days. Theyre in Chile; were in Hawaii. Our teams didnt coordinate with each other at all, said Basant. That gives us a lot of assurance that these arent phantoms in the data.The four planets likely hosted by Barnards Star are tiny, at just 20 to 30% of the mass of Earth, and orbit extremely close to the star so that a year there lasts just a few Earth days. Its also harder for researchers to spot such tiny planets compared to big gas giants which are much more visible in their effects.The U.S. National Science Foundation is collaborating with the astronomy community on an adventure to look deeper into the Universe to detect planets with environments that might resemble Earths, says Martin Still, NSF program director for the International Gemini Observatory. The planet discoveries provided by MAROON-X mounted on Gemini North provide a significant step along that journey.The research is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.Editors Recommendations