Exoplanet Systems
Overview
The discovery and study of exoplanets is a relatively new field within astrophysics. The first confirmed system was discovered in 1995, and since then it has been a burgeoning subfield of research.
Note
See this section’s top page page for some background on exoplanets.
A view of exoplanet systems in the night sky looking toward Cygnus, Lyra, and Hercules. Blue rings mark a star that has one or more planets. The larger the ring, the closer it is to us.
Visualizing Exoplanet Systems
The exoplanet systems are represented by a blue ring centered on each host star. The ring is not intended to signify an orbit; the various ring sizes reveal their distance from you. The labels list the host star name, and if there is more than one planet, will list the number of planets in parentheses. Note that not all objects here have a label, we omitted the longer labels to keep the view less cluttered.
Note
The blue rings do not signify an orbit, but merely mark the locations of stars with known planets. The larger the ring, the closer it is to your position.
To see the individual systems of planets with planetary orbits and a rendition of the habitable zone, see the Exoplanet System Module.
The night sky looking toward the constellations Orion and Taurus. The exoplanetary systems are marked by blue rings positioned at each host star’s location. Larger rings indicate they are closer to our position. Select systems are labeled. Labels followed by a number in parentheses indicates the number of planets in that system. Labels with nothing following the name have one confirmed planet.
Seeing Individual Systems
You can view individual exoplanetary systems using the Exoplanet Systems Panel. To see an individual system of planets at their correct distance and inclination, along with a habitable zone, take the following steps:
Bring up the Exoplanet Systems Panel.
Search for the system you want to see.
Add that system.
Target and fly to the system.
The Kepler-11 system of six planets with the yellowish host star, Kepler-11, and accompanying planetary orbits. Encircling the system is a diagram of the habitable zone, with red and blue edges indicating its probable boundaries and a green center indicating where liquid water could exist for an earth-sized planet.
Once you fly up to the system it will resemble the image for the Kepler-11 system pictured here. You can see the individual planetary orbits huddled around their host star. In addition, we depict a habitable zone where liquid water could exist. Using the Exoplanet Systems Panel allows you to target specific exoplanetary systems and examine their characteristics.
Distribution
Exoplanet systems remain huddled around the Sun for the most part. This reflects our observational constraints. When viewed with the Radio Sphere, we can see that there are many systems within that theoretical boundary of our radio signals.
Blue rings mark stars that have a known exoplanetary system. The 80-light-year-radius, wire-frame sphere is called the Radio Sphere and encompasses our radio signals, which have been traveling out into space for roughly 80 years. The Sun and Solar System lie at the center of the sphere. Many exoplanets lie inside the sphere and, theoretically, have heard from us.
Exceptions include the conical swath of systems in the Kepler mission’s footprint, which stretches out into the Galaxy in the direction of the constellation Cygnus. We also see in the image below the abundance of systems from the K2 mission that appear perpendicular to the Kepler portion.
A view of the exoplanetary systems from outside the Milky Way galaxy. We are still limited to systems near Earth, but missions like Kepler and TESS are extending our range deeper into the Galaxy. Kepler discovered the swath of systems that extend to the left in this image.
Profiles
Dossier
Census: |
4,139 planets in 3,023 systems |
|---|---|
Asset File: |
|
OpenSpace Version: |
4 |
Reference: |
NASA Exoplanet Archive; Gaia DR3; XHIP An Extended Hipparcos Compilation |
Prepared by: |
Brian Abbott, Zack Reeves (AMNH) |
Source Version: |
21.13 |
License: |