Short description: Overview of potentially habitable terrestrial exoplanets
This is a list of potentially habitable exoplanets. The list is mostly based on estimates of habitability by the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC), and data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. The HEC is maintained by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo.[1] There is also a speculative list being developed of superhabitable planets.
Surface planetary habitability is thought to require to orbit at the right distance from the host star for liquid surface water to be present, in addition to various geophysical and geodynamical aspects, atmospheric density, radiation type and intensity, and the host star's plasma environment.[2]
This is a list of exoplanets within the circumstellar habitable zone that are under 10 Earth masses and smaller than 2.5 Earth radii, and thus have a chance of being rocky.[3][1] Note that inclusion on this list does not guarantee habitability, and in particular the larger planets are unlikely to have a rocky composition.[4] Earth is included for comparison.
Note that mass and radius values prefixed with "~" have not been measured, but are estimated from a mass-radius relationship.
HD 85512 b was initially estimated to be potentially habitable,[51][52] but updated models for the boundaries of the habitable zone placed the planet interior to the HZ,[53][54] and it is now considered non-habitable.[1]Kepler-69c has gone through a similar process; though initially estimated to be potentially habitable,[55] it was quickly realized that the planet is more likely to be similar to Venus,[56] and is thus no longer considered habitable.[1] Several other planets, such as Gliese 180 b, also appear to be examples of planets once considered potentially habitable but later found to be interior to the habitable zone.[1]
Similarly, Tau Ceti e and f were initially both considered potentially habitable,[57] but with improved models of the circumstellar habitable zone, as of 2022 PHL does not consider either planet potentially habitable.[1][failed verification]Kepler-438b was also initially considered potentially habitable; however, it was later found to be a subject of powerful flares that can strip a planet of its atmosphere, so it is now considered non-habitable.[1]
K2-3d and K2-18b were originally considered potentially habitable, and the latter remains listed in the HEC,[1] but recent studies have shown them to be gaseous sub-Neptunes and thus unlikely to be habitable.[58][59][60][61][62][63]
KOI-1686.01 was also considered a potentially habitable exoplanet after its detection in 2011, until proven a false positive by NASA in 2015.[64] Several other KOIs, like Kepler-577b and Kepler-1649b, were considered potentially habitable prior to confirmation, but with new data are no longer considered habitable.
↑Kossakowski, D. et al. (January 2023). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs, Wolf 1069 b: Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of a nearby, very low-mass star". Astronomy & Astrophysics670: A84. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245322. Bibcode: 2023A&A...670A..84K.
↑Mullally, Fergal; Thompson, Susan E.; Coughlin, Jeffrey L.; Burke, Christopher J.; Rowe, Jason F. (2018). "Kepler's Earth-like Planets Should Not be Confirmed without Independent Detection: The Case of Kepler-452b". The Astronomical Journal155 (5): 210. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aabae3. Bibcode: 2018AJ....155..210M.
↑Burke, Christopher J.; Mullally, F.; Thompson, Susan E.; Coughlin, Jeffrey L.; Rowe, Jason F. (2019). "Re-evaluating Small Long-period Confirmed Planets from Kepler". The Astronomical Journal157 (4): 143. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aafb79. Bibcode: 2019AJ....157..143B.
↑Harakawa, Hiroki et al. (2022). "A super-Earth orbiting near the inner edge of the habitable zone around the M4.5 dwarf Ross 508". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan74 (4): 904–922. doi:10.1093/pasj/psac044. Bibcode: 2022PASJ...74..904H.
↑ 33.033.1Feng, Fabo et al. (8 January 2020). "Search for Nearby Earth Analogs. II. Detection of Five New Planets, Eight Planet Candidates, and Confirmation of Three Planets around Nine Nearby M Dwarfs". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series246 (1): 11. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ab5e7c. Bibcode: 2020ApJS..246...11F.
↑Cadieux, Charles et al. (October 2023). "New Mass and Radius Constraints on the LHS 1140 Planets -- LHS 1140 b is Either a Temperate Mini-Neptune or a Water World". The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
↑Damasso, M. et al. (2022), "A quarter century of spectroscopic monitoring of the nearby M dwarf Gl 514", Astronomy & Astrophysics666: A187, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243522
↑Robertson, Paul; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Endl, Michael; Roy, Arpita (3 July 2014). "Stellar activity masquerading as planets in the habitable zone of the M dwarf Gliese 581". Science345 (6195): 440–444. doi:10.1126/science.1253253. PMID24993348. Bibcode: 2014Sci...345..440R.
↑Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.; Delgado, Victor Ramirez; Harrell, Justin; Haley, Charlotte L. (2022). "Magnitude-squared Coherence: A Powerful Tool for Disentangling Doppler Planet Discoveries from Stellar Activity". The Astronomical Journal163 (4): 169. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac52ed. Bibcode: 2022AJ....163..169D.
↑Gorrini, P. et al. (2022). "Detailed stellar activity analysis and modelling of GJ 832". Astronomy & Astrophysics664: A64. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243063.
↑Kaltenegger, L.; Udry, S.; Pepe, F. (2011). "A Habitable Planet around HD 85512?". arXiv:1108.3561 [astro-ph.EP].
↑Kosiarek, Molly R. et al. (2019). "Bright Opportunities for Atmospheric Characterization of Small Planets: Masses and Radii of K2-3 b, c, and d and GJ3470 b from Radial Velocity Measurements and Spitzer Transits". The Astronomical Journal157 (3): 97. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aaf79c. Bibcode: 2019AJ....157...97K.