High Proper Motion Stars

Exoplanetary Scratchpad [SysBP Img]

Stars with high proper motion relative to the Sun.

High Proper Motion Record

• Barnard's Star System - Barnard's Star is also known as Gliese 699 and informally as Proxima Ophiuchi. Named for the astronomer E. E. Barnard, who discovered it in 1916 and was the first to measure its proper motion. Second closest star system to the Sun and the one with the highest proper motion in the sky - due to its rapid approach to the Sun. Will get as close as 3.8 ly away in 12,000 years. A red dwarf thought early on to have a planet around it found due to radial velocity method, which has been disproved. A super earth has been detected at Mercury-like distances, but beyond the frost line. Life could be possible if an additional source of heat was provided. A potential target for the 1970's Project Daedelus. The star is very ancient 11-12 Billion Years Old, and is the nearest inactive Red Dwarf Star. It may take another 40 Billion Years before it cools to become a Black Dwarf. Astronomers were surprised to discover that it was a flare star in 2003, and dubbed it V2500 Ophiuchi.
• Kapteyn's Star System - Kapteyn's Star is also known as VZ Pic, Gl 191, HD 33793, and Cordoba Zone 5 hours 243. Kapteyn noticed that a star was missing from a catalog until its new position was found. Has the second highest proper motion of any stars. Also informally called Proxima Pictoris. Nearby large and old Red Dwarf star system and nearest Halo object thought to be a remnant of the nearest and largest global cluster, Omega Centauri, which is 16,000 ly away and shredded by the Milky way 11.5 BYA, and born while that was still a separate galaxy. 2.5 times as old as the Sun and born when the Universe was only 2 BYO. Was within 3 light years of Epsilon Eridani 31,500 years ago. Will be on the other side of the galaxy in 100 MY. Is a sub-dwarf or main sequence star. Has two planets. The first is at least a 4.5 ME Super Earth (0.16 AU) and is the oldest Potentially Habitable Planet. The second is over 7 ME and beyond the HZ (0.3 AU).
• Groombridge 1830 System - Groombridge 1830 is also known as HR 4550, HD 103095, and Gl 451. Nearby dim yellow subdwarf star. It was first mentioned in Groombridge's catalog of circumpolar stars. It was found to have the highest proper motion of any star by Argelander in 1842 (replacing 61 Cygni), and is now known to have the third highest. It is likely a halo star, and has not evolved onto the main sequence despite its old age 5 or 10 billion years old. Being a halo star that does not follow the rotation of the galaxy explains its high proper motion. It is part of the Groombridge 1830 Moving Group, which consists of several other subdwarf stars. Van de Kamp recorded a flare which he assumed was a dim companion star. It has since been found to undergo superflares.
• 61 Cygni System - 61 Cygni is also called Gl 820, very rarely called Bessel's Star, and informally Proxima Cygni. Nearby star system containing two orange dwarves. This was the star with the highest proper motion known in the 1830s and dubbed as "The Flying Star" by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1792. It is the star with the highest proper motion of any stars visible with the naked eye. In 1911, it was found by Boss to be a part of a moving group, dubbed the 61 Cygni Moving Group. Friedrich Struve first made measurements of it as a binary system in 1830. It was also the first system to have its distance measured by parallax, which was done by Bessel in 1838. The stars are barely visible with the naked eye. The stars are separated on average by 86 AU. The stars atmospheres likely do not touch. The stars are old, 6 to 10 Billion Years old. There were several claims of a planetary system in the 20th Century, but none have panned out. This includes Strand's claim in 1942 (under the direction of Van de Kamp), and Soviet claims in 1977. Heintz proved in 1978 that these claims were false. Due to its proximity to Earth, the star was a tier 1 priority for the Space Interferometry Mission, which hoped to discover planets.