There are 5,653 known exoplanets, or planets outside the Solar System that orbit a star, as of April 1, 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 104 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 2023 are two around Gliese 367 (30.7 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]
° | Mercury, Earth and Jupiter (for comparison purposes) |
# | Confirmed multiplanetary systems |
↑ | Exoplanets believed to be potentially habitable [8] |
Host star system | Companion exoplanet (in order from star) | Notes and additional planetary observations | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Distance (ly) | Apparent magnitude (V) | Mass (M☉) | Label [note 5] | Mass (ME) [note 6] | Radius (R🜨) | Semi-major axis (AU) | Orbital period (days) | Eccentricity | Inclination (°) | Discovery method | Discovery year | |
Sun ° | 0.000016 | −26.7 | 1 | Mercury | 0.055 | 0.3829 | 0.387 | 88.0 | 0.205 | — | — | — | — |
Earth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 365.3 | 0.0167 | — | — | — | |||||
Jupiter | 317.8 | 10.973 | 5.20 | 4,333 | 0.0488 | — | — | — | |||||
Proxima Centauri # | 4.2465 | 11.13 | 0.123 | d | ≥0.26 | — | 0.0289 | 5.122 | 0.04 | — | RV | 2022 | [14] [15] one disputed candidate (c) [16] [17] [18] [19] |
b ↑ | ≥1.07 | — | 0.0486 | 11.19 | 0.02 | — | RV | 2016 | |||||
Lalande 21185 # | 8.304 | 7.52 | 0.46 | b | ≥2.69 | — | 0.0788 | 12.94 | 0.06 | — | RV | 2019 | 1 candidate [20] |
c | ≥13.6 | — | 2.94 | 2,946 | 0.13 | — | RV | 2021 | |||||
Epsilon Eridani | 10.489 | 3.73 | 0.781 | Ægir | 242 | — | 3.53 | 2,689 | 0.26 | 166.5 | RV | 2000 | 1 inferred planet, 1 or possibly 2 inner debris discs, and an outer disc [21] [22] |
Lacaille 9352 # | 10.724 | 7.34 | 0.489 | b | ≥4.2 | — | 0.068 | 9.262 | 0.03 | — | RV | 2019 | 1 candidate [23] [24] |
c | ≥7.6 | — | 0.120 | 21.79 | 0.03 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
Ross 128 | 11.007 | 11.1 | 0.168 | b ↑ | ≥1.40 | — | 0.0496 | 9.866 | 0.12 | — | RV | 2017 | [25] |
Groombridge 34 A# | 11.619 | 8.1 | 0.38 | b | ≥3.03 | — | 0.072 | 11.44 | 0.09 | ~54? | RV | 2014 | [26] [27] |
c | ≥36 | — | 5.4 | 7,600 | 0.27 | ~54? | RV | 2018 | |||||
Epsilon Indi A | 11.867 | 4.83 | 0.762 | b | 941 | — | 11.08 | 15,700 | 0.42 | 98.7 | RV | 2018 | [28] [22] |
Tau Ceti # | 11.912 | 3.50 | 0.78 | g | ≥1.75 | — | 0.133 | 20.0 | 0.06 | ~35? | RV | 2017 | 4 candidates [29] [30] [8] [31] [32] [33] |
h | ≥1.8 | — | 0.243 | 49.4 | 0.23 | ~35? | RV | 2017 | |||||
e | ≥3.9 | — | 0.538 | 163 | 0.18 | ~35? | RV | 2017 | |||||
f | ≥3.9 | — | 1.33 | 640 | 0.16 | ~35? | RV | 2017 | |||||
GJ 1061 # | 11.984 | 7.52 | 0.113 | b | ≥1.37 | — | 0.021 | 3.204 | <0.31 | — | RV | 2019 | two solutions for d's orbit [34] |
c ↑ | ≥1.74 | — | 0.035 | 6.689 | <0.29 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
d ↑ | ≥1.64 | — | 0.054 | 13.03 | <0.53 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
YZ Ceti # | 12.122 | 12.1 | 0.130 | b | ≥0.70 | — | 0.0163 | 2.021 | 0.06 | — | RV | 2017 | [35] |
c | ≥1.14 | — | 0.0216 | 3.060 | 0.0 | — | RV | 2017 | |||||
d | ≥1.09 | — | 0.0285 | 4.656 | 0.07 | — | RV | 2017 | |||||
Luyten's Star # | 12.348 | 11.94 | 0.29 | c | ≥1.18 | — | 0.0365 | 4.723 | 0.10 | — | RV | 2017 | [36] [23] |
b ↑ | ≥2.89 | — | 0.0911 | 18.65 | 0.17 | — | RV | 2017 | |||||
d | ≥10.8 | — | 0.712 | 414 | 0.17 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
e | ≥9.3 | — | 0.849 | 542 | 0.03 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
Teegarden's Star # | 12.497 | 15.40 | 0.08 | b ↑ | ≥1.05 | — | 0.0252 | 4.910 | 0 | — | RV | 2019 | [37] |
c ↑ | ≥1.11 | — | 0.0443 | 11.41 | 0 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
Wolf 1061 # | 14.050 | 10.1 | 0.25 | b | ≥1.91 | — | 0.0375 | 4.887 | 0.15 | — | RV | 2015 | [36] |
c ↑ | ≥3.41 | — | 0.0890 | 17.87 | 0.11 | — | RV | 2015 | |||||
d | ≥7.7 | — | 0.470 | 217 | 0.55 | — | RV | 2015 | |||||
TZ Arietis | 14.578 | 12.30 | 0.14 | b | ≥67 | — | 0.88 | 771 | 0.46 | — | RV | 2019 | 2 refuted candidates [23] [38] [39] |
Gliese 687 # | 14.839 | 9.15 | 0.41 | b | ≥17.2 | — | 0.163 | 38.14 | 0.17 | — | RV | 2014 | [23] [38] |
c | ≥16.0 | — | 1.165 | 728 | 0.40 | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
Gliese 674 | 14.849 | 9.38 | 0.35 | b | ≥11.1 | — | 0.039 | 4.694 | 0.20 | — | RV | 2007 | [40] |
Gliese 876 # | 15.238 | 10.2 | 0.33 | d | 6.68 | — | 0.0210 | 1.938 | 0.04 | 56.7 | RV | 2005 | [41] |
c | 235 | — | 0.1309 | 30.10 | 0.26 | 56.7 | RV | 2000 | |||||
b | 749 | — | 0.2098 | 61.10 | 0.03 | 56.7 | RV | 1998 | |||||
e | 16 | — | 0.3355 | 123.6 | 0.05 | 56.7 | RV | 2010 | |||||
GJ 1002 # | 15.806 | 13.84 | 0.12 | b ↑ | ≥1.08 | — | 0.0457 | 10.35 | — | — | RV | 2022 | [42] |
c ↑ | ≥1.36 | — | 0.0738 | 21.2 | — | — | RV | 2022 | |||||
Gliese 832 | 16.200 | 8.67 | 0.45 | b | 315 | — | 3.7 | 3,853 | 0.05 | 51 or 134 | RV | 2008 | 1 refuted candidate [43] [44] |
GJ 3323 # | 17.531 | 12.2 | 0.164 | b | ≥2.0 | — | 0.0328 | 5.36 | 0.2 | — | RV | 2017 | [45] |
c | ≥2.3 | — | 0.126 | 40.5 | 0.2 | — | RV | 2017 | |||||
Gliese 251 | 18.215 | 9.65 | 0.372 | b | ≥4.0 | — | 0.0818 | 14.2 | 0.10 | — | RV | 2020 | [46] |
Gliese 229 A# | 18.791 | 8.14 | 0.58 | c ↑ | ≥7.3 | — | 0.339 | 122 | 0.19 | — | RV | 2020 | Ab not confirmed until 2020. [47] |
b | ≥8.5 | — | 0.898 | 526 | 0.10 | — | RV | 2014 | |||||
Gliese 752 A | 19.292 | 9.13 | 0.46 | b | ≥13.6 | — | 0.338 | 106 | 0.03 | — | RV | 2018 | [48] [23] |
82 G. Eridani # | 19.704 | 4.26 | 0.85 | b | ≥2.7 | — | 0.121 | 18.3 | ~0 | — | RV | 2011 | 2 candidates [49] [50] [51] |
c | ≥2.4 | — | 0.204 | 40.1 | ~0 | — | RV | 2011 | |||||
d | ≥4.8 | — | 0.350 | 90 | ~0 | — | RV | 2011 | |||||
e | ≥4.8 | — | 0.509 | 147 | 0.29 | — | RV | 2017 | |||||
EQ Pegasi A | 20.400 | 10.38 | 0.436 | b | 718 | — | 0.643 | 284 | 0.35 | 69.2 | Astrometry | 2022 | [52] |
Gliese 581 # | 20.549 | 10.5 | 0.31 | e | ≥1.7 | — | 0.0282 | 3.15 | 0.0 | ~45? | RV | 2009 | 3 refuted candidates and a disc [53] [54] [55] [56] |
b | ≥16 | — | 0.0406 | 5.37 | 0.0 | ~45? | RV | 2005 | |||||
c | ≥5.5 | — | 0.072 | 12.9 | 0.0 | ~45? | RV | 2007 | |||||
Gliese 338 B | 20.658 | 7.0 | 0.64 | b | ≥10.3 | — | 0.141 | 24.5 | 0.11 | — | RV | 2020 | [57] |
Gliese 625 | 21.131 | 10.2 | 0.30 | b | ≥2.8 | — | 0.0784 | 14.6 | ~0.1 | — | RV | 2017 | [58] |
HD 219134 # | 21.336 | 5.57 | 0.78 | b | 4.7 | 1.60 | 0.0388 | 3.09 | ~0 | 85.05 | RV | 2015 | [59] [60] [61] |
c | 4.4 | 1.51 | 0.065 | 6.77 | 0.062 | 87.28 | RV | 2015 | |||||
d | ≥16 | — | 0.237 | 46.9 | 0.138 | ~87? | RV | 2015 | |||||
f | ≥7.3 | — | 0.146 | 22.7 | 0.148 | ~87? | RV | 2015 | |||||
g | ≥11 | — | 0.375 | 94.2 | 0 | ~87? | RV | 2015 | |||||
h (e) | ≥108 | — | 3.11 | 2,247 | 0.06 | ~87? | RV | 2015 | |||||
LTT 1445 A# | 22.387 | 10.53 | 0.26 | c | 1.54 | 1.15 | 0.0266 | 3.12 | <0.22 | 87.43 | Transit | 2021 | [62] [63] |
b | 2.87 | 1.30 | 0.0381 | 5.36 | <0.11 | 89.68 | Transit | 2019 | |||||
Gliese 393 | 22.953 | 8.65 | 0.41 | b | ≥1.71 | — | 0.0540 | 7.03 | 0.00 | — | RV | 2019 | [23] [64] |
Gliese 667 C# | 23.623 | 10.2 | 0.33 | b | ≥5.4 | — | 0.049 | 7.20 | 0.13 | ~52? | RV | 2009 | 5 dubious candidates [65] [8] [66] [67] [23] |
c ↑ | ≥3.9 | — | 0.1251 | 28.2 | 0.03 | ~52? | RV | 2011 | |||||
Gliese 514 | 24.878 | 9.03 | 0.53 | b | ≥5.2 | — | 0.421 | 140 | 0.45 | — | RV | 2022 | [68] |
Gliese 486 | 26.351 | 11.395 | 0.32 | Su | 2.8 | 1.31 | 0.0173 | 1.47 | <0.05 | 88.4 | Transit | 2021 | [69] |
Gliese 686 | 26.613 | 9.58 | 0.42 | b | ≥7.1 | — | 0.097 | 15.5 | 0.04 | — | RV | 2019 | [70] [23] |
61 Virginis # | 27.836 | 4.74 | 0.95 | b | ≥5.1 | — | 0.0502 | 4.22 | ~0.1 | ~77? | RV | 2009 | a debris disc, [71] 1 disputed candidate [72] |
c | ≥18 | — | 0.218 | 38.0 | 0.14 | ~77? | RV | 2009 | |||||
CD Ceti | 28.052 | 14.001 | 0.161 | b | ≥3.95 | — | 0.0185 | 2.29 | 0 | — | RV | 2020 | [73] |
Gliese 785 # | 28.739 | 6.13 | 0.78 | b | ≥17 | — | 0.32 | 75 | 0.13 | — | RV | 2010 | [74] |
c | ≥24 | — | 1.18 | 530 | ~0.3 | — | RV | 2011 | |||||
Gliese 849 # | 28.750 | 10.4 | 0.49 | b | ≥270 | — | 2.26 | 1,910 | 0.05 | — | RV | 2006 | [75] [23] |
c | ≥300 | — | 4.82 | 5,520 | 0.087 | — | RV | 2006 | |||||
Gliese 433 # | 29.605 | 9.79 | 0.48 | b | ≥6.0 | — | 0.062 | 7.37 | 0.04 | — | RV | 2009 | [76] [23] [47] |
d | ≥5.2 | — | 0.178 | 36.1 | 0.07 | — | RV | 2020 | |||||
c | ≥32 | — | 4.82 | 5,090 | 0.12 | — | RV | 2012 | |||||
HD 102365 A | 30.396 | 4.89 | 0.85 | b | ≥16 | — | 0.46 | 122 | 0.34 | — | RV | 2010 | [77] |
Gliese 367 | 30.719 | 9.98 | 0.45 | Tahay | 0.55 | 0.72 | 0.0071 | 0.32 | 0 | 80.75 | Transit | 2021 | [78] |
Gliese 357 # | 30.776 | 10.9 | 0.34 | b | 6.1 | 1.17 | 0.035 | 3.93 | 0.02 | 88.92 | Transit | 2019 | [79] [23] |
c | ≥3.6 | — | 0.061 | 9.13 | 0.04 | ~89? | RV | 2019 | |||||
d ↑ | ≥7.7 | — | 0.204 | 55.7 | 0.03 | ~89? | RV | 2019 | |||||
Gliese 176 | 30.937 | 10.1 | 0.45 | b | ≥8.0 | — | 0.066 | 8.77 | 0.08 | — | RV | 2007 | 1 disputed candidate [80] [81] [23] |
GJ 3512 # | 30.976 | 13.11 | 0.123 | b | ≥147 | — | 0.338 | 204 | 0.44 | — | RV | 2019 | [82] |
c | ≥54 | — | >1.2 | >1390 | — | — | RV | 2019 | |||||
Wolf 1069 | 31.229 | 13.99 | 0.167 | b ↑ | ≥1.26 | — | 0.0672 | 15.6 | — | — | RV | 2023 | [83] |
AU Microscopii # | 31.683 | 8.63 | 0.50 | b | 17 | 4.38 | 0.0645 | 8.463 | 0.10 | 89.03 | Transit | 2020 | [84] [85] |
c | <28 | 3.51 | 0.1101 | 18.86 | 0 | 88.62 | Transit | 2020 | |||||
Gliese 436 | 31.882 | 10.67 | 0.41 | Awohali | 21.4 | 4.33 | 0.0280 | 2.64 | 0.15 | 85.8 | RV | 2004 | [86] [87] |
Gliese 49 | 32.158 | 8.9 | 0.57 | b | ≥16.4 | — | 0.106 | 17.3 | 0.03 | — | RV | 2019 | [88] |
HD 260655 # | 32.608 | 9.77 | 0.439 | b | 2.14 | 1.240 | 0.0293 | 2.780 | 0.039 | 87.35 | Transit | 2022 | [89] |
c | 3.09 | 1.533 | 0.0475 | 5.706 | 0.038 | 87.79 | Transit | 2022 |
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. [90] 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), [91] Gliese 682 (16.3 ly, in 2014), [47] 40 Eridani A (16.3 ly, in 2018), [92] [72] and GJ 1151 (26.2 ly, in 2021). [93] [94] [95] There are also several instances where proposed exoplanets were later disproved by subsequent studies, including candidates around Alpha Centauri B (4.36 ly), [96] Barnard's Star (5.96 ly), [97] [98] Kapteyn's Star (12.8 ly), [99] Van Maanen 2 (14.1 ly), [100] Groombridge 1618 (15.9 ly), [101] AD Leonis (16.2 ly), [102] VB 10 (19.3 ly), [103] and Fomalhaut (25.1 ly). [2]
In 2021, a candidate planet was detected around Vega, though it has yet to be confirmed. [104] 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. [105]
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. [106] 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), [107] SDSS J1416+1348 B (30.3 ly), [108] and WISE 1217+1626 B (30 ly). [109]
Excluded from the current list are known examples of potential free-floating sub-brown dwarfs, or "rogue planets", which are bodies that are too small to undergo fusion yet they do not revolve around a star. Known such examples include: WISE 0855−0714 (7.4 ly), [110] UGPS 0722-05, (13.4 ly) [111] WISE 1541−2250 (18.6 ly), [112] and SIMP J01365663+0933473 (20.0 ly). [113]
Gliese 876 is a red dwarf star 15.2 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. It is one of the closest known stars to the Sun confirmed to possess a planetary system with more than two planets, after GJ 1061, YZ Ceti, Tau Ceti, and Wolf 1061; as of 2018, four extrasolar planets have been found to orbit the star. The planetary system is also notable for the orbital properties of its planets. It is the only known system of orbital companions to exhibit a near-triple conjunction in the rare phenomenon of Laplace resonance. It is also the first extrasolar system around a normal star with measured coplanarity. While planets b and c are located in the system's habitable zone, they are giant planets believed to be analogous to Jupiter.
Gliese 436 is a red dwarf located 31.9 light-years away in the zodiac constellation of Leo. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 10.67, which is much too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, it can be viewed with even a modest telescope of 2.4 in (6 cm) aperture. In 2004, the existence of an extrasolar planet, Gliese 436 b, was verified as orbiting the star. This planet was later discovered to transit its host star.
Gliese 849, or GJ 849, is a small, solitary star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. It has a reddish hue and is invisible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 10.41. The distance to this star is 28.8 light-years based on parallax, but it is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −15.3 km/s. It has a pair of confirmed gas giant companions.
Gliese 832 is a red dwarf of spectral type M2V in the southern constellation Grus. The apparent visual magnitude of 8.66 means that it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. It is located relatively close to the Sun, at a distance of 16.2 light years and has a high proper motion of 818.16 milliarcseconds per year. Gliese 832 has just under half the mass and radius of the Sun. Its estimated rotation period is a relatively leisurely 46 days. The star is roughly 6 billion years old.
Gliese 86 is a K-type main-sequence star approximately 35 light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. It has been confirmed that a white dwarf orbits the primary star. In 1998 the European Southern Observatory announced that an extrasolar planet was orbiting the star.
GJ 3512 is a nearby star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It is invisible to the naked eye but can be observed using a telescope, having an apparent visual magnitude of +15.05. The star is located at a distance of 31 light-years from the Sun based on parallax. It has a high proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the rate of 1.311″ yr−1. The measurement of the star's radial velocity is poorly constrained, but it appears to be drifting further away at a rate of ~8 km/s.
GJ 357 is an M-type main sequence star with an unusually low starspot activity. It is located 31 light-years from the Solar System. The system is part of the Hydra constellation.
GJ 3470 is a red dwarf star located in the constellation of Cancer, 96 light-years away from Earth. With a faint apparent magnitude of 12.3, it is not visible to the naked eye. It hosts one known exoplanet.