Barnard\'s star

[bahr-nerdz]

Barnard's star

[bahr-nerdz]
noun
a red dwarf star of magnitude 9.5 in the constellation Ophiuchus, having the largest known proper motion and being the nearest star to earth (5.9 light-years) beyond the Alpha Centauri system.

Origin:
after Edward E. Barnard (1857–1923), American astronomer, its discoverer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Barnard's star is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Barnard's star
 
n
a red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus having the largest proper motion known
 
[C20: named after Edward Emerson barnard]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
Barnard's star   (bär'nərdz)  Pronunciation Key 
A dim, main-sequence red dwarf in the constellation Ophiuchus that is the second nearest star to Earth after the Alpha-Centauri system. Although it is only 5.98 light-years from our solar system, it is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. Barnard's star has a greater proper motion (movement with respect to the background stars that is caused by an object's own motion rather than by how it is viewed from Earth) than any other star. Barnard's star is named for its identifier, American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923).
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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