Though it lies relatively close to the Sun, Teegarden's Star is nonetheless extremely faint, and barely detectable in visible light. This infra-red image helps it stand out more clearly against the background stars of Aries. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas
A very faint star of the type known as a reddwarf. Only discovered as recently as 2003, this star was initially thought to be less than eight light years from the Solar System, making it the third nearest stellar system to the Sun. More recent measurements, however, suggest that it is somewhat further away than this initial estimate, and that Teegarden's Star actually lies some 12.5 light years from the Sun. This faint reddwarfstar is one of several in relatively close proximity to the Solar System whose low luminosity makes them difficult to detect.