Barnard's Star

 Here is a 2 frame .GIF showing the proper motion of Barnard's Star over 16 years.

I have been taking images of Barnard's Star every year since 07' and will at some point make a comparison with even more references.

The 2007 version was one of the first images taken when I got my Starlight Xpress SXVF-H9 camera.

This version was only a stack of (3) 30 second subs through a Celestron C11 with an Optec F5 focal reducer. A Focal length of 1400mm and no filters used. The original subs had quite a strong optical vignette that I was able to correct with Astroart's gradient filters.

The 2023 version was with my current setup, AT10RC @F8 2000mm, SX-694 & LPS-D3 filter. A stack of (39) 20 second exposures.

The SNR was higher in the 2007 image since it was taken @F5 on a 280mm SCT and I needed to adjust the histogram quite a bit to closely match the 2023 version in both background and star intensity. Light pollution levels were also much lower for me back in 07'. Since that time, LED street lights have been installed all over the area including my street along with most of my neighbors having security lights with no shielding.

Barnard's Star (Tycho 425-2502-1) has the largest known proper motion of a star across our sky 10.39" arc per year. It's also the 4th nearest star to our Solar System (5.96 ly.) after the Alpha Centauri system. For me it's the closest visible star (with optical aid) from my latitude.