Scientists discover humble planet orbiting one of Earth's closest known stars

The closest known star to Earth is called Barnard's star, and it's located just six light years away, which is a very small distance in astronomical terms.

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In the world of astronomy, six light years is the equivalent of Earth's neighbor, and now a team of researchers has discovered a planet orbiting our closest known star. That planet has been named Barnard b. According to a new study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the planet is considered a sub-Earth as its substantially less massive than Earth and Venus. Planets such as Mars and Mercury are considered to be sub-Earth planets.

As for Barnard b, the paper states the newly discovered planet orbits its star at an extremely close distance, with one year on the planet, or one full orbit, taking just three Earth days. Notably, Bernard b has a mass less than half of Venus, and with its distance of six light years away from Earth, Bernard's star is the second closest stellar system following Alpha Centauri's three-star group and the closest known star to Earth Proxima Centauri at 4.25 light years away.

Unfortunately, if you were thinking there was a chance of Barnard b hosting some form of life, that doesn't seem to be possible, as its close proximity to its star makes it impossible for liquid water to be present on its surface. Its proximity to its local star is twenty times closer than Mercury is to our Sun, which makes Barnard's surface temperature to be around 250 degrees Fahrenheit.