New exoplanet discovered orbiting closest single star to our Sun -YouTube - ESO - planetary science

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT),astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting the closest single star to our Sun,Barnard's star,a red dwarf variable star,at about 6 light years from Earth.The exoplanet,which has a mass at least half that of Venus,has a surface temperature of 125 C/257 F,which is too hot to sustain liquid water.It was discovered by the gravitational pull it has on Barnard's star.*The VLT is part of the Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal,Mt.Paranal,with an altitude of 2635 m/8645 ft.It is in the Atatcama Desert of Northern Chile.The VLT is capable of both visible and infrared observation.The VLT consists of four individual telescopes,each with a primary mirror of 8.2 m/26.9 ft in diameter.They are generally operated separately,but can also be combined.*Barnard's star has the designation V2500 Ophiuchi.It is named for the American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard,who measured its motion in 1916.Barnard's star is not visible to the naked eye.At 7-12 billion years of age,it may be one of the most ancient stars in the Milky Way.Note:Alpha Centauri is a star system,not an individual star.*Material by ESO and edited and augmented by Andrew Taylor