The NASA Exoplanet Archive is the authoritative database of confirmed exoplanets, maintained by Caltech/IPAC under contract with NASA. Each entry represents a confirmed planet with its best-available physical and orbital parameters, host star properties, and discovery information. This dataset uses the Planetary Systems (ps) table with default_flag=1 to select one row per planet with the default parameter set.

The discovery of exoplanets has transformed our understanding of planetary systems and the prevalence of worlds beyond our own. The first confirmed detection around a Sun-like star came in 1995 with 51 Pegasi b, a "hot Jupiter" whose unexpectedly close orbit challenged existing theories of planet formation. Since then, the transit method -- measuring the tiny dip in stellar brightness as a planet crosses its host star -- has become the dominant discovery technique, largely thanks to the Kepler and TESS space telescopes.

The dataset includes key physical parameters such as orbital period, planet radius and mass, equilibrium temperature, orbital eccentricity, and semi-major axis, alongside host star properties like effective temperature, radius, mass, and distance. These parameters are fundamental to characterizing planetary systems: radius and mass together constrain bulk composition (rocky vs. gaseous), equilibrium temperature indicates potential habitability, and eccentricity reveals dynamical history.

This data underpins a wide range of astrophysical research, from occurrence rate calculations (how common are Earth-like planets?) to atmospheric characterization target selection for JWST and future missions.

This dataset is suitable for tabular classification, tabular regression tasks.

Schema

Column	Type	Description	Sample	Null %
`pl_name`	str	Planet designation in the form 'Host b/c/d...' (e.g. 'Kepler-452 b'); alphabetical suffixes distinguish planets within the same system	TOI-4662 b	0.0%
`hostname`	str	Host star identifier; multiple rows share the same hostname in multi-planet systems	TOI-4662	0.0%
`discoverymethod`	str	Detection technique: 'Transit' (brightness dip), 'Radial Velocity' (Doppler shift), 'Direct Imaging', 'Microlensing', 'Astrometry', or 'Timing'; determines which physical parameters are measurable	Transit	0.0%
`disc_year`	Int64	Calendar year of confirmed discovery; ranges from 1992 (pulsar planets) to present	2026	0.0%
`disc_facility`	str	Observatory or mission that made the discovery (e.g. 'Kepler', 'TESS', 'La Silla Observatory')	Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite...	0.0%
`pl_orbper`	float64	Orbital period in days; hot Jupiters: 1-5 days, Earth analogs: ~365 days, outer giants: years; null for directly imaged planets without an orbit solution	4.70343764575	5.6%
`pl_rade`	float64	Planet radius in Earth radii; sub-Earths: <1, super-Earths: 1-1.5, mini-Neptunes: 1.5-4, Neptunes: 4-7, Jupiters: >7; null if no transit or imaging measurement available	2.87998299	25.4%
`pl_bmasse`	float64	Best-available planet mass in Earth masses; actual mass if inclination is known, otherwise M sin(i) from radial velocity; rocky: <10, Neptune-class: 10-50, Jupiter: ~318; null for transit-only detections without RV follow-up	9.1	50.7%
`pl_eqt`	float64	Planet equilibrium temperature in Kelvin assuming zero albedo; Earth's T_eq ~ 255 K; habitable zone range ~ 200-300 K; null if stellar temperature or semi-major axis is unavailable	688.0	72.6%
`pl_orbsmax`	float64	Orbital semi-major axis in AU; sets stellar irradiation flux and equilibrium temperature; null for planets with only transit period and no stellar mass estimate	0.05921	38.4%
`pl_orbeccen`	float64	Orbital eccentricity (0 = circular, <1 = elliptical); most short-period planets are tidally circularized (e ~ 0); null for planets discovered by transit alone without RV characterization	0.061	57.9%
`st_teff`	float64	Host star effective temperature in Kelvin; M dwarfs: 2500-4000 K, K dwarfs: 4000-5200 K, G dwarfs (Sun-like): 5200-6000 K, F dwarfs: 6000-7500 K	4520.41	11.9%
`st_rad`	float64	Host star radius in solar radii; required to convert observed transit depth into absolute planet radius	0.69375	13.0%
`st_mass`	float64	Host star mass in solar masses; used with orbital period to compute semi-major axis via Kepler's third law	0.724	13.9%
`sy_dist`	float64	System distance in parsecs from Earth; derived from Gaia parallax when available; needed to assess planet detectability and calculate absolute stellar luminosity	111.047	2.0%
`sy_vmag`	float64	Host star apparent V-band (optical) magnitude; brighter stars (lower values) are better targets for atmospheric characterization and RV follow-up	12.437	4.9%
`ra`	float64	Right ascension in decimal degrees (ICRS J2000.0); range 0-360	57.5160311	0.0%
`dec`	float64	Declination in decimal degrees (ICRS J2000.0); range -90 to +90	-31.0940247	0.0%
`rowupdate`	str	ISO date of the most recent parameter update in the NASA Exoplanet Archive for this row	2026-04-23	0.0%

Quick stats

6,319 confirmed exoplanets
Most recent discovery: TOI-4662 b (2026)

By discovery method

Method	Count
Transit	4,662
Radial Velocity	1,195
Microlensing	281
Imaging	98
Transit Timing Variations	40
Eclipse Timing Variations	17
Orbital Brightness Modulation	9
Pulsar Timing	8

Recent discoveries by year

Year	Count
2026	231
2025	245
2024	260
2023	323
2022	367
2021	564
2020	234
2019	195
2018	308
2017	152

Usage

from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/nasa-exoplanets", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/nasa-exoplanets", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Earth-like candidates: rocky, in habitable zone
habitable = df[
    (df["pl_rade"] < 1.6) &
    (df["pl_eqt"] > 200) & (df["pl_eqt"] < 310)
]
print(f"{len(habitable)} potentially habitable planets")

# Transit vs radial velocity discoveries over time
transit = df[df["discoverymethod"] == "Transit"]
rv = df[df["discoverymethod"] == "Radial Velocity"]

# Planets by discovery facility
top_facilities = df["disc_facility"].value_counts().head(10)

Data source

https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

Related datasets

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About the author

Created by Julien Simon — AI Operating Partner at Fortino Capital. Part of the Space Datasets collection.

Citation

@dataset{nasa_exoplanets,
  title = {NASA Exoplanet Archive},
  author = {juliensimon},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/nasa-exoplanets},
  publisher = {Hugging Face}
}