Exoplanet Catalogs

One of the most exciting developments in the field of exoplanets has been the progression from “stamp-collecting” to demography, from discovery to characterization, and 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 is 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, the value of exoplanetary catalogs are introduced. 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. Three of the most up-to-date general catalogs are compared and contrasted, including the data and tools that are available. Exoplanet catalogs that were constructed to address specific science questions or exoplanet discovery space are then described. Although not all of the published lists of exoplanets in the literature in this chapter are listed or summarized, the case study of the NASA Kepler mission planet catalogs are explored in some detail. Finally, some of the best practices to adopt when constructing or utilizing an exoplanet catalog are laid out.