Barnard's Star is a very-low-mass red dwarf about six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth-closest known individual star to the Sun (after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system) and the closest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite its proximity, at a dim apparent magnitude of about nine, it is not visible with the unaided eye; however, it is much brighter in the infrared than it is in visible light.