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HEC: Potential Habitable Worlds Ranked by Surface Habitability

THIS LIST IS OUTDATED, CURRENT LIST IS AVAILABLE HERE (NOT IN GRAPHICAL FORM).

This list shows 16 potential habitable worlds, including confirmed and unconfirmed exoplanets, ranked by surface habitability using the Standard Primary Habitability (SPH). The SPH is a measure of the potential of an exoplanet to support land primary producers, such as vegetation, and drive a large biosphere that might include complex life. Potential habitable exoplanets with SPH equal to zero might be only able to support simple forms such as microbial life. Check the methods section for an explanation of the metrics and classifications systems used here.

NOTE: Those names starting with Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) link to the NASA Kepler Mission original data. However, we used updated stellar values from Muirhead et al. (2011) that modified the stellar properties and reduced the estimated radius in many cases. Mass or radius was estimated when not available with a mass-radius relationship assuming a terrestrial planet composition. The surface temperature calculation assumed a scaled greenhouse effect similar to Earth. More details about this data is available here.

Class M Exoplanets (Mesoplanets)

Surface temperatures between 0°to 50°C






Class P Exoplanets (Psychroplanets)

Surface temperatures between -50°to 0°C






Class T Exoplanets (Thermoplanets)

Surface temperatures between 50°to 100°C


Class hP Exoplanets (Hypopsychroplanets)

Surface Temperatures between -100°to -50°C