He is best known for his discovery of the high proper motion of Barnard's Star in 1916, which is named in his honor.

His father died three months before his birth,[1] so he grew up in an impoverished family and did not receive much in the way of formal education.

With his name being brought to the attention of amateur astronomers in Nashville, they collectively raised enough money to give Barnard a fellowship to Vanderbilt University.

[4] He joined the staff of the Lick Observatory in California in 1887, though he later clashed with the director, Edward S. Holden, over access to observing time on the larger instruments and other issues of research and management.

Although he did not realize it at the time, he had discovered proof of the "spokes" of Saturn, dark shadows running perpendicular to the circular paths of the rings.

In 1892, he made observations of a nova and was the first to notice the gaseous emissions, thus correctly deducing that it was a stellar explosion.

This was the last satellite discovered by direct visual observation (rather than by examining photographic plates or other recorded images).

Together with Max Wolf, he discovered that certain dark regions of the galaxy were actually clouds of gas and dust that obscured the more distant stars in the background.