NewsSpaceThe nearest single star to Earth has four small planetsThis is the second study in six months to find planets around Barnards star Four small, probably rocky planets orbit Barnards star (illustrated). The planetary system is the nearest one to the sun centered on a single star. R. Proctor and J. Pollard/International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/AURA/NSFBy Lisa Grossman34 seconds agoThe nearest single star to the sun, Barnards star, has a brood of planets all its own. The red dwarf star, about six light-years from Earth, hosts four close-in planets each about two to three times the mass of Mars, astronomers report in the March 20 Astrophysical Journal Letters.Barnards star has a long history of claimed detections, but none of them could be confirmed for a long time, says astronomer Ritvik Basant of the University of Chicago. Its pretty exciting to know whats orbiting the nearest stars.