There are 7,026 known exoplanets, or planets outside the Solar System that orbit a star, as of July 24, 2024; only a small fraction of these are located in the vicinity of the Solar System.[3] Within 10 parsecs (32.6 light-years), there are 106 exoplanets listed as confirmed by the NASA Exoplanet Archive.[note 1][4] Among the over 500 known stars and brown dwarfs within 10 parsecs,[5][note 2] around 60 have been confirmed to have planetary systems; 51 stars in this range are visible to the naked eye,[note 3][7] eight of which have planetary systems.
The first report of an exoplanet within this range was in 1998 for a planet orbiting around Gliese 876 (15.3 light-years (ly) away), and the latest as of 2024 is one around GJ 1289 (27.3 ly). The closest exoplanets are those found orbiting the star closest to the Solar System, which is Proxima Centauri 4.25 light-years away. The first confirmed exoplanet discovered in the Proxima Centauri system was Proxima Centauri b, in 2016. HD 219134 (21.6 ly) has six exoplanets, the highest number discovered for any star within this range.
Most known nearby exoplanets orbit close to their stars. A majority are significantly larger than Earth, but a few have similar masses, including planets around YZ Ceti, Gliese 367, and Proxima Centauri which may be less massive than Earth. Several confirmed exoplanets are hypothesized to be potentially habitable, with Proxima Centauri b and GJ 1002 b (15.8 ly) considered among the most likely candidates.[8] The International Astronomical Union has assigned proper names to some known extrasolar bodies, including nearby exoplanets, through the NameExoWorlds project. Planets named in the 2015 event include the planets around Epsilon Eridani (10.5 ly) and Fomalhaut,[note 4][11] while planets named in the 2022 event include those around Gliese 436, Gliese 486, and Gliese 367.[12]
Unlike for bodies within the Solar System, there is no clearly established method for officially recognizing an exoplanet. According to the International Astronomical Union, an exoplanet should be considered confirmed if it has not been disputed for five years after its discovery.[99] There have been examples where the existence of exoplanets has been proposed, but even after follow-up studies their existence is still considered doubtful by some astronomers. Such cases include Wolf 359 (7.9 ly, in 2019),[23]LHS 288 (15.8 ly, in 2007),[100]
and Gliese 682 (16.3 ly, in 2014).[47]
There are also several instances where proposed exoplanets were later disproved by subsequent studies, including candidates around Alpha Centauri B (4.36 ly),[101]Barnard's Star (5.96 ly),[102][103]Kapteyn's Star (12.8 ly),[104]Van Maanen 2 (14.1 ly),[105]Groombridge 1618 (15.9 ly),[106]AD Leonis (16.2 ly),[107]40 Eridani A (16.3 ly),[108][109]VB 10 (19.3 ly),[110] and Fomalhaut (25.1 ly).[2]
In 2021, a candidate planet was detected around Vega, though it has yet to be confirmed.[111] Another candidate planet, Candidate 1, was directly imaged around Alpha Centauri A, though it may also be a clump of asteroids or an artifact of the discovery mechanism.[112] Candidate planets around Luyten 726-8 (8.77 ly)[113] and GJ 3378 (25.2 ly) were reported in 2024.[77]
The Working Group on Extrasolar Planets of the International Astronomical Union adopted in 2003 a working definition on the upper limit for what constitutes a planet: not being massive enough to sustain thermonuclear fusion of deuterium. Some studies have calculated this to be somewhere around 13 times the mass of Jupiter, and therefore objects more massive than this are usually classified as brown dwarfs.[114] Some proposed candidate exoplanets have been shown to be massive enough to fall above the threshold, and thus are likely brown dwarfs, as is the case for: SCR 1845-6357 B (13.1 ly),[115]SDSS J1416+1348 B (30.3 ly),[116] and WISE 1217+1626 B (30 ly).[117]
Listed values are primarily taken from NASA Exoplanet Archive,[4] but other databases include a few additional exoplanet entries tagged as "Confirmed" that have yet to be compiled into the NASA archive. Such databases include:
"Exoplanets Data Explorer". Exoplanet Orbit Database. California Planet Survey. Click the "+" button to visualize additional parameters.
"Open Exoplanet Catalogue". Click the "Show options" to visualize additional parameters. Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
According to the Bortle scale, an astronomical object is visible to the naked eye under "typical" dark-sky conditions in a rural area if it has an apparent magnitude smaller than +6.5. To the unaided eye, the limiting magnitude is +7.6 to +8.0 under "excellent" dark-sky conditions (with effort).[6]
Exoplanet naming convention assigns uncapitalized letters starting from b to each planet based on chronological order of their initial report, and in increasing order of distance from the parent star for planets reported at the same time. Omitted letters signify planets that have yet to be confirmed, or planets that have been retracted altogether.
Most reported exoplanet masses have very large error margins (typically, between 10% and 30%). The mass of an exoplanet has generally been inferred from measurements on changes in the radial velocity of the host star, but this kind of measurement only allows for an estimate on the exoplanet's orbital parameters, but not on their orbital inclination (i). As such, most exoplanets only have an estimated minimum mass (Mreal*sin(i)), where their true masses are statistically expected to come close to this minimum, with only about 13% chance for the mass of an exoplanet to be more than double its minimum mass.[13]
Hurt, Spencer A.; Fulton, Benjamin; Isaacson, Howard; Rosenthal, Lee J.; Howard, Andrew W.; Weiss, Lauren M.; Petigura, Erik A. (2021), "Confirmation of the Long-Period Planet Orbiting Gliese 411 and the Detection of a New Planet Candidate", The Astronomical Journal, 163 (5): 218, arXiv:2107.09087, Bibcode:2022AJ....163..218H, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac5c47, S2CID236134034
Barnes, J. R.; Kiraga, M.; Diaz, M.; Berdiñas, Z.; Jenkins, J. S.; Keiser, S.; Thompson, I.; Crane, J. D.; Shectman, S. A.; Teske, J. K.; Holden, B.; Laughlin, G.; Burt, J.; Vogt, S. S.; Arriagada, P.; Butler, R. P.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Jones, H. R. A.; Tuomi, M. (11 June 2019). "Frequency of planets orbiting M dwarfs in the Solar neighbourhood". arXiv:1906.04644 [astro-ph.EP].
Jeffers, S. V.; Dreizler, S.; Barnes, J. R.; Haswell, C. A.; Nelson, R. P.; Rodríguez, E.; López-González, M. J.; Morales, N.; Luque, R.; etal. (2020), "A multiple planet system of super-Earths orbiting the brightest red dwarf star GJ887", Science, 368 (6498): 1477–1481, arXiv:2006.16372, Bibcode:2020Sci...368.1477J, doi:10.1126/science.aaz0795, PMID32587019, S2CID220075207
Quirrenbach, A.; Passegger, V. M.; Trifonov, T.; Amado, P. J.; Caballero, J. A.; Reiners, A.; Ribas, I.; Aceituno, J.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Chaturvedi, P.; González-Cuesta, L.; Henning, T.; Herrero, E.; Kaminski, A.; Kürster, M.; Lalitha, S.; Lodieu, N.; López-González, M. J.; Montes, D.; Pallé, E.; Perger, M.; Pollacco, D.; Reffert, S.; Rodríguez, E.; López, C. Rodríguez; Shan, Y.; Tal-Or, L.; Osorio, M. R. Zapatero; Zechmeister, M. (2022). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 663: A48. arXiv:2203.16504. Bibcode:2022A&A...663A..48Q. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142915. S2CID247835988.
von Stauffenberg, A.; Trifonov, T.; Quirrenbach, A.; etal. (2024-06-05). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Revisiting the GJ 581 multi-planetary system with new Doppler measurements from CARMENES, HARPS, and HIRES". Astronomy & Astrophysics. arXiv:2407.11520. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449375. ISSN0004-6361.
González-Álvarez, E.; Osorio, M. R. Zapatero; Caballero, J. A.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Béjar, V. J. S.; González-Cuesta, L.; Dreizler, S.; Bauer, F. F.; Rodríguez, E.; Tal-Or, L.; Zechmeister, M.; Montes, D.; López-González, M. J.; Ribas, I.; Reiners, Ansgar; Quirrenbach, A.; Amado, P. J.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Azzaro, M.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; Hatzes, A. P.; Henning, T.; Jeffers, S. V.; Kaminski, A.; Kürster, M.; Lafarga, M.; Morales, J. C.; Pallé, E.; Perger, M.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M. (29 March 2020). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. A super-Earth planet orbiting HD 79211 (GJ 338 B)". Astronomy & Astrophysics. A93: 637. arXiv:2003.13052. Bibcode:2020A&A...637A..93G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201937050. S2CID214714124.
Almenara, Jose-Manuel; Berlind, Perry; Bouchy, Franois; Burke, Chris J.; Delfosse, Xavier; Díaz, Rodrigo F.; Dressing, Courtney D.; Esquerdo, Gilbert A.; Figueira, Pedro; Forveille, Thierry; Fur'esz, G'abor; Henze, Christopher E.; Jao, Wei-Chun; L'epine, S'ebastien; Levine, Alan M.; Lovis, Christophe; Mink, Jessica; Muirhead, Philip S.; Murgas, Felipe; Pepe, Francesco; Tenenbaum, Peter; Teske, Johanna K.; Twicken, Dr Joseph D.; Udry, St'ephane; Jenkins, Jon M.; Winn, Joshua N.; Seager, Sara; Latham, David W.; Vanderspek, Roland; Ricker, George R.; Bonfils, Xavier; Winston, Elaine; Diamond-Lowe, Hannah; Henry, Todd J.; Vrijmoet, Eliot; Eastman, Jason D.; Horch, Elliott P.; Astudillo-Defru, Nicola; Charbonneau, David; Irwin, Jonathan M.; Medina, Amber A.; Winters, Jennifer G. (24 June 2019). "Three Red Suns in the Sky: A Transiting, Terrestrial Planet in a Triple M Dwarf System at 6.9 Parsecs". The Astronomical Journal. 158 (4): 152. arXiv:1906.10147. Bibcode:2019AJ....158..152W. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab364d. S2CID195584444.
Winters, Jennifer G.; Cloutier, Ryan; Medina, Amber A.; Irwin, Jonathan M.; Charbonneau, David; Astudillo-Defru, Nicola; Bonfils, Xavier; Howard, Andrew W.; Isaacson, Howard; Bean, J. L.; Seifahrt, A.; Teske, J. K.; Eastman, Jason D.; Twicken, Joseph D.; Collins, K. A.; Jensen, E. L. N.; Quinn, S. N.; Payne, M. J.; Kristiansen, M. H.; Spencer, A.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Zechmeister, Mathias; Weiss, L. M.; Wang, S. X.; Wang, G.; Udry, Stéphane; Terentev, I. A.; Sturmer, J.; Stefansson, G.; Shectman, Stephen A.; Sefako, R.; Schwengeler, H. M.; Schwarz, R. P.; Scarsdale, N.; Rubenzahl, R. A.; Roy, A.; Rosenthal, L. J.; Robertson, P.; Petigura, Erik A.; Pepe, Francesco; Omohundro, M.; Murphy, J. M. A.; Murgas, Felipe; Movcnik, T.; Montet, B. T.; Mennickent, R.; Mayo, A. W.; Massey, B.; Lubin, J.; Lovis, Christophe; Lewin, P.; Kasper, D.; Kane, S. R.; Jenkins, J. M.; Huber, D.; Horne, K.; Hill, M. L.; Gorrini, P.; Giacalone, S.; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Forveille, Thierry; Figueira, Pedro; Fetherolf, T.; Dressing, Courtney D.; Díaz, Rodrigo F.; Delfosse, Xavier; Dalba, P. A.; Dai, F.; Cortes, C. C.; Crossfield, Ian J. M.; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Conti, D. M.; Collins, K. I.; Chontos, A.; Butler, R. Paul; Brown, P.; Brady, M.; Bouchy, François; Behmard, A.; Beard, C.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Almenara, José M. (2022). "A Second Planet Transiting LTT 1445A and a Determination of the Masses of Both Worlds". The Astronomical Journal. 163 (4): 168. arXiv:2107.14737. Bibcode:2022AJ....163..168W. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac50a9. S2CID236635391.
Damasso, M.; Perger, M.; Almenara, J. M.; Nardiello, D.; Pérez-Torres, M.; Sozzetti, A.; Hara, N. C.; Quirrenbach, A.; Bonfils, X.; Osorio, M. R. Zapatero; Astudillo-Defru, N.; Hernández, J. I. González; Mascareño, A. Suárez; Amado, P. J.; Forveille, T.; Lillo-Box, J.; Alibert, Y.; Caballero, J. A.; Cifuentes, C.; Delfosse, X.; Figueira, P.; Galadí-Enríquez, D.; Hatzes, A. P.; Henning, Th; Kaminski, A.; Mayor, M.; Murgas, F.; Montes, D.; Pinamonti, M.; Reiners, A.; Ribas, I.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Schweitzer, A.; Zechmeister, M. (13 April 2022). "A quarter century of spectroscopic monitoring of the nearby M dwarf Gl 514". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 666: A187. arXiv:2204.06376. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243522. S2CID248157318.
Vedantham, H. K.; Callingham, J. R.; Shimwell, T. W.; Tasse, C.; Pope, B. J. S.; Bedell, M.; Snellen, I.; Best, P.; Hardcastle, M. J.; Haverkorn, M.; Mechev, A.; O’Sullivan, S. P.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; White, G. J. (June 2020). "Coherent radio emission from a quiescent red dwarf indicative of star–planet interaction". Nature Astronomy. 4 (6): 577–583. arXiv:2002.08727. Bibcode:2020NatAs...4..577V. doi:10.1038/s41550-020-1011-9. S2CID211204712.
Perger, M.; Ribas, I.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Morales, J. C.; Amado, P. J.; Caballero, J. A.; Quirrenbach, A.; Reiners, A.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Dreizler, S.; Galadí-Enríquez, D.; Hatzes, A. P.; Henning, Th.; Jeffers, S. V.; Kaminski, A.; Kürster, M.; Lafarga, M.; Montes, D.; Pallé, E.; Rodríguez-López, C.; Schweitzer, A.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Zechmeister, M. (2021), "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs, No evidence for a super-Earth in a 2-day orbit around GJ 1151", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 649: L12, arXiv:2103.10216, Bibcode:2021A&A...649L..12P, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140786, S2CID126038821
Trifonov, T.; Caballero, J. A.; Morales, J. C.; Seifahrt, A.; Ribas, I.; Reiners, Ansgar; Bean, J. L.; Luque, R.; Parviainen, H.; Pallé, E.; Stock, S.; Zechmeister, M.; Amado, P. J.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Azzaro, M.; Barclay, T.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Bluhm, P.; Casasayas-Barris, N.; Cifuentes, C.; Collins, K. A.; Collins, K. I.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; de Leon, J.; Dreizler, S.; Dressing, C. D.; Esparza-Borges, E.; Espinoza, N.; Fausnaugh, M.; Fukui, A.; Hatzes, A. P.; Hellier, C.; Henning, Th.; Henze, C. E.; Herrero, E.; Jeffers, S. V.; Jenkins, J. M.; Jensen, E. L. N.; Kaminski, A.; Kasper, D.; Kossakowski, D.; Kürster, M.; Lafarga, M.; Latham, D. W.; Mann, A. W.; Molaverdikhani, K.; Montes, D.; Montet, B. T.; Murgas, F.; Narita, N.; Oshagh, M.; Passegger, V. M.; Pollacco, D.; Quinn, S. N.; Quirrenbach, A.; Ricker, G. R.; Rodríguez López, C.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Schwarz, R. P.; Schweitzer, A.; Seager, S.; Shporer, A.; Stangret, M.; Stürmer, J.; Tan, T. G.; Tenenbaum, P.; Twicken, J. D.; Vanderspek, R.; Winn, J. N. (5 March 2021). "A nearby transiting rocky exoplanet that is suitable for atmospheric investigation". Science. 371 (6533): 1038–1041. arXiv:2103.04950. Bibcode:2021Sci...371.1038T. doi:10.1126/science.abd7645. PMID33674491. S2CID232124642.
Affer, L.; Damasso, M.; Micela, G.; Poretti, E.; Scandariato, G.; Maldonado, J.; Lanza, A. F.; Covino, E.; Rubio, A. Garrido; Hernandez, J. I. Gonzalez; Gratton, R.; Leto, G.; Maggio, A.; Perger, M.; Sozzetti, A.; Mascareno, A. Suarez; Bonomo, A. S.; Borsa, F.; Claudi, R.; Cosentino, R.; Desidera, S.; Molinari, E.; Pedani, M.; Pinamonti, M.; Rebolo, R.; Ribas, I.; Toledo-Padron, B. (16 January 2019). "HADES RV programme with HARPS-N at TNG. X. A super-Earth around the M dwarf Gl686". Astronomy & Astrophysics. A193: 622. arXiv:1901.05338. Bibcode:2019A&A...622A.193A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834868. S2CID118863481.
Moutou, C.; Ould-Elhkim, M.; Donati, J.-F.; Charpentier, P.; Cadieux, C.; Delfosse, X.; Artigau, E.; Arnold, L.; Baruteau, C. (2024-06-14), Characterizing planetary systems with SPIRou: a temperate sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting the nearby fully-convective star GJ 1289 and a candidate around GJ 3378, arXiv:2406.10384
Bauer, F. F.; Zechmeister, M.; Kaminski, A.; López, C. Rodríguez; Caballero, J. A.; Azzaro, M.; Stahl, O.; Kossakowski, D.; Quirrenbach, A.; Jarque, S. Becerril; Rodríguez, E.; Amado, P. J.; Seifert, W.; Reiners, Ansgar; Schäfer, S.; Ribas, I.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; Dreizler, S.; Hatzes, A.; Henning, T.; Jeffers, S. V.; Kürster, M.; Lafarga, M.; Montes, D.; Morales, J. C.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.; Schweitzer, A.; Solano, E. (2 June 2020). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Measuring precise radial velocities in the near infrared: the example of the super-Earth CD Cet b". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 640: A50. arXiv:2006.01684. Bibcode:2020A&A...640A..50B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202038031. S2CID219179889.
Wohler, B.; Winn, J. W.; Wang, S. X.; Twicken, J. D.; Teske, J.; Tamura, M.; Shectman, S. A.; Rowden, P.; Ricker, G. R.; Ribas, I.; Pedraz, S.; Nagel, E.; Murgas, F.; Morales, J. C.; Montañés-Rodríguez, P.; McDermott, S.; Latham, D. W.; Lafarga, M.; Kotani, T.; Klahr, H.; Kaminski, A.; Jenkins, J. M.; Feng, F.; Dynes, S.; Dressing, C. D.; Crane, J. D.; Collins, K. I.; Collins, K. A.; Chen, G.; Caldwell, D. A.; Butler, R. P.; Burt, J.; Burke, C. J.; Bluhm, P.; Bauer, F. F.; Batalha, N. E.; Anderson, D. R.; Amado, P. J.; Zechmeister, M.; Osorio, M. R. Zapatero; Trifonov, T.; Stock, S.; Schlecker, M.; Rodríguez-López, C.; Reiners, Ansgar; Reffert, S.; Quirrenbach, A.; Parviainen, H.; Oshagh, M.; Ofir, A.; Nowak, G.; Narita, N.; Montes, D.; Molaverdikhani, K.; Kürster, M.; Kaltenegger, L.; Jeffers, S. V.; Henning, T.; Hellier, C.; Hatzes, A.; Díez-Alonso, E.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; Caballero, J. A.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Espinoza, N.; Kemmer, J.; Dreizler, S.; Kossakowski, D.; Pallé, E.; Luque, R. (29 April 2019). "A planetary system around the nearby M dwarf Gl 357 including a transiting hot Earth-sized planet optimal for atmospheric characterisation". Astronomy & Astrophysics. A39: 628. arXiv:1904.12818. Bibcode:2019A&A...628A..39L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935801. S2CID139102184.