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HEC: Periodic Table of Exoplanets

These images summarize in eighteen thermal-mass/size categories most of the current confirmed exoplanets and Kepler candidates. They provide a simple scheme to visualize the exoplanets 'zoo' out there. The number of exoplanets in each category are shown in the center of each frame. These are identified and ranked in detail with various habitability assessments in the Habitable Exoplanet Catalog (HEC).

General Image Caption: The Periodic Table of Exoplanets divides most of the known exoplanets into six mass/size and three temperatures groups (18 categories total). Exoplanets in the Hot Zone are too close of their parent star to have liquid water. Those in the Warm 'Habitable' Zone have the right distance for liquid water. Water can only exist as ice for those in the Cold Zone. Mercurians are low mass bodies mostly spherical and atmophere-less like Mercury and the Moon. Subterrans are comparable to Mars, Terrans to Earth and Venus, and Superterrans are up to 10 times as massive as Earth, a category with no comparable examples in the Solar System. Neptunians are similar in mass to Neptune and Uranus, and Jovians to Jupiter and Saturn, or larger. Not all bodies stated in the objects count in the title are classified in the table due to unknown stellar or planetary parameters.


Figure 1. Current confirmed exoplanets classified into eighteen thermal-mass categories. The number of exoplanets in each category is shown in the center of each frame and as a percent in the lower left. The diagram also shows the number of multiple stellar systems (top right). The most abundant objects of the confirmed exoplanets are hot jovians. There are four warm superterrans that are our best candidates so far for habitable exoplanets. ME = Earth masses. CREDIT: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.


Figure 2. Current NASA Kepler exoplanets candidates classified into eighteen thermal-size categories. The number of exoplanets in each category is shown in the center of each frame and as a percent in the lower left. Those already confirmed are shown in the lower right. The diagram also shows the number of multiple stellar systems (top right). The most abundant objects of the Kepler exoplanets are hot superterrans. RE = Earth radii. Kepler-22 b is the only warm superterran already confirmed that it narrowly fits the basic habitability criteria but it is most likely a very hot world. CREDIT: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.


Figure 3. Current Solar System spherical objects (with mass over 10-5 Earth masses) including planets, moons, and dwarf planets classified into eighteen thermal-mass categories. The number of objects in each category is shown in the center of each frame and as a percent in the lower left. The diagram helps as a base for comparison with the tables for exoplanets. The most abundant objects of the Solar System are cold mercurians, also known as icy bodies. Note that the criteria that we use for potential habitable exoplanets does not exclude Mars and Venus like worlds without more information about them. ME = Earth masses. CREDIT: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.

Periodic Table of Exoplanets (Spanish Versions)

Las versiones en español de la Tabla Periódica de Exoplanetas presentan a todos los exoplanetas descubiertos hasta el momento divididos en seis grupos de masa/tamaño y tres de temperatura (18 categorías en total). La versión de esta tabla en español no se actualiza tan a menudo como las versiones en inglés.