Exoplanet Catalogs

Abstract

One of the most exciting developments in the field of exoplanets has been the progression from “stamp-collecting” to demography, from discovery to characterization, from exoplanets to comparative exoplanetology. There is an exhilaration when a prediction is confirmed, a trend is observed, or a new population appears. This transition has been driven by the rise in the sheer number of known exoplanets, which has been rising exponentially for two decades (Mamajek, Cumulative number of exoplanets discoveries versus time. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4057704.v1, 2016). However, the careful collection, scrutiny, and organization of these exoplanets are necessary for drawing robust, scientific conclusions that are sensitive to the biases and caveats that have gone into their discovery. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and demonstrate important considerations to keep in mind when examining or constructing a catalog of exoplanets. First, we introduce the value of exoplanetary catalogs. There are a handful of large, online databases that aggregate the available exoplanet literature and render it digestible and navigable – an ever more complex task with the growing number and diversity of exoplanet discoveries. We compare and contrast three of the most up-to-date general catalogs, including the data and tools that are available. We then describe exoplanet catalogs that were constructed to address specific science questions or exoplanet discovery space. Although we do not attempt to list or summarize all the published lists of exoplanets in the literature in this chapter, we explore the case study of the NASA Kepler mission planet catalogs in some detail. Finally, we lay out some of the best practices to adopt when constructing or utilizing an exoplanet catalog.

All science is either physics or stamp collecting. Ernest Rutherford