How many exoplanets have been discovered?
6,372 confirmed planets were listed in the NASA Exoplanet Archive when we last read it, on 1 October 2026. The figure rises most weeks, so treat any exact number as dated — including this one.
Updated on October 7, 2026
The count
- Confirmed exoplanets
- 6,372
- Read from the archive on
- 1 October 2026
- First confirmed planet around a Sun-like star
- 51 Pegasi b, 1995
- First confirmed planets at all
- around the pulsar PSR B1257+12, 1992
- Dominant detection method
- transits, thanks to Kepler and TESS
- Nearest known exoplanet
- Proxima Centauri b, 4.2465 light years
Confirmed, candidate, and why the numbers differ
A confirmed planet has been validated, usually by a second method or a careful statistical analysis that rules out the look-alikes: eclipsing binary stars, background contamination, instrument artefacts. Candidates — and there are thousands more of those — have a signal but not yet the confirmation. Different trackers count differently, which is why you will see figures that disagree by hundreds.
Two methods dominate. A transit is a tiny dip in brightness as the planet crosses its star, which gives the radius; radial velocity is the star’s wobble, which gives a minimum mass. A planet with both has a density, and density is what tells you whether it is rock, water or gas.
The nearest systems with known planets
| Star | Distance (light years) | Spectral type | Known planets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proxima Centauri | 4.2465 | M5.5V | 2 |
| Alpha Centauri A/B | 4.3441 | G2V + K1V | 0 |
| Barnard's Star | 5.9629 | M4.0V | 4 |
| Wolf 359 | 7.8560 | M6.0V | 2 |
| Lalande 21185 | 8.3070 | M2.0V | 2 |
| Ross 128 | 11.0070 | M4.0V | 1 |
| YZ Ceti | 12.1320 | M4.5V | 3 |
| Luyten's Star (GJ 273) | 12.3480 | M3.5V | 2 |
| Teegarden's Star | 12.4970 | M7.0V | 3 |
| TRAPPIST-1 | 40.6600 | M8.0V | 7 |
6372 — Data checked on October 1, 2026
How to read this page
How to read the numbers here
Every value on "How many exoplanets have been discovered?" comes from the source named beside its section, never from an estimate of our own with no origin.
Where the data comes from
Each section of "How many exoplanets have been discovered?" names its official source; the verification date sits at the top of the page.
Linked to the rest of the module
"How many exoplanets have been discovered?" is one of this module’s reference pages; the glossary below defines the technical terms used here.
Words on this page
Atomic number
The number of protons in an atom’s nucleus, written Z. It is this number, not the mass, that defines which element an atom is: every atom with 8 protons is oxygen, whether it has 8 or 18 neutrons.
Standard definition by IUPAC · Atomic number
Atomic weight
The average weight of an element’s atoms, weighted by how abundant each isotope is in nature, in atomic mass units. For 14 elements CIAAW publishes a range instead of a single value, because that abundance varies a little from sample to sample.
Standard definition by CIAAW — Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights · Atomic weight
Isotope
Atoms of the same element (same number of protons) with a different number of neutrons, and therefore a different mass. Carbon-12 and carbon-14 are isotopes of carbon; only the second one is radioactive.
Mole
The SI counting unit for atoms, molecules or other entities: one mole is exactly 6.02214076 × 10²³ of them, by the definition fixed in 2019. It is what ties a mass in grams to a number of particles.
Standard definition by BIPM — Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (SI) · Mole
Standard uncertainty
The margin attached to a measured value, usually written in parentheses on the last digits. A constant that is "exact by definition" has zero standard uncertainty; a measured one, like the gravitational constant G, always carries some.
Standard definition by BIPM — Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (SI) · Standard uncertainty