# List of nearest exoplanets
The nearest exoplanets are the confirmed planets orbiting stars within roughly 20 light-years of the Sun, a set dominated by small planets around red dwarf stars. The closest known exoplanet, [Proxima Centauri b](https://www.edgepedia.org/proxima-centauri-b), lies about 4.244 light-years away in the triple system [Alpha Centauri](https://www.edgepedia.org/alpha-centauri), and the cataloged planets within 20 light-years number in the dozens, most of them terrestrial or super-[Earth mass](https://www.edgepedia.org/earth-mass) worlds detected by the radial velocity method.[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) • [2](https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Closest known exoplanet | Proxima Centauri b, about 4 light-years away, terrestrial, 1.06 Earth masses[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) • [2](https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/) |
| Closest around a single star | The planets of Barnard's Star at 5.957 light-years, the nearest single star to the Sun[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) • [3](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/breezing-through-space-environment-barnards-star-b) |
| Lightest radial-velocity mass | Proxima d, about a quarter of Earth's mass, measured with ESPRESSO on ESO's Very Large Telescope[4](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/) |
| Nearest gas giant | ε Eridani b, 1.00 Jupiter masses at 10.45 light-years[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) |
| Dominant detection method | Radial velocity (Doppler spectroscopy), which measures the star's wobble; most nearby planets are low-mass, short-period worlds[5](https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology/learning-resources/alp/discover-worlds-around-other-stars/) |
| Context | Over 6,200 exoplanets confirmed overall in NASA's Exoplanet Archive[6](https://www.space.com/science/astrophysics/scientists-found-10-000-possible-exoplanets-hiding-in-nasa-data) |
## The nearest systems
The table below lists confirmed planets in systems within about 19 light-years, with masses in Earth masses (M⊕) or Jupiter masses (M♃) and distances in light-years, as compiled in the SpaceCatalog listing of the nearest exoplanets.[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest)
| System | Distance (ly) | Planets (type, mass) |
|---|---|---|
| Proxima Centauri (Centaurus) | 4.244 | b (terrestrial, 1.06 M⊕); d (terrestrial, 0.26 M⊕) |
| Barnard's Star (Ophiuchus) | 5.957 | b (0.30 M⊕), with additional candidate planets pending confirmation |
| ε Eridani (Eridanus) | 10.45 | b (gas giant, 1.00 M♃) |
| GJ 887 (Piscis Austrinus) | 10.72 | b (super-Earth, 3.90 M⊕); c (Neptune-like, 6.50 M⊕); d (Neptune-like, 6.10 M⊕); e (terrestrial, 1.46 M⊕) |
| Ross 128 (Virgo) | 11.01 | b (terrestrial, 1.40 M⊕) |
| Gl 725 A (Draco) | 11.49 | b (super-Earth, 2.78 M⊕) |
| GJ 15 A (Andromeda) | 11.62 | b (super-Earth, 3.03 M⊕); c (gas giant, 0.11 M♃) |
| τ Ceti (Cetus) | 11.75 | f (super-Earth, 3.93 M⊕); g (terrestrial, 1.75 M⊕); h (terrestrial, 1.83 M⊕) |
| ε Indi A (Indus) | 11.87 | b (gas giant, 6.50 M♃) |
| GJ 1061 (Horologium) | 11.98 | b (1.11 M⊕); c (1.81 M⊕); d (1.67 M⊕), all terrestrial |
| YZ Ceti (Cetus) | 12.11 | b (0.70 M⊕); c (1.14 M⊕); d (1.09 M⊕), all terrestrial |
| Teegarden's Star (Aries) | 12.49 | b (1.16 M⊕); c (1.05 M⊕); d (0.82 M⊕), all terrestrial |
| Kapteyn's Star (Pictor) | 12.83 | c (Neptune-like, 7.00 M⊕) |
| Wolf 1061 (Ophiuchus) | 14.04 | b (terrestrial, 1.91 M⊕); c (super-Earth, 3.41 M⊕); d (Neptune-like, 7.70 M⊕) |
| GJ 674 (Ara) | 14.84 | b (Neptune-like, 11.09 M⊕) |
| GJ 687 (Draco) | 14.84 | b (17.20 M⊕); c (16.00 M⊕), both Neptune-like |
| GJ 876 (Aquarius) | 15.25 | b (gas giant, 2.28 M♃); c (gas giant, 0.71 M♃); d (6.83 M⊕); e (14.60 M⊕), the latter two Neptune-like |
| GJ 1002 (Cetus) | 15.81 | b (1.08 M⊕); c (1.36 M⊕), both terrestrial |
| GJ 832 (Grus) | 16.19 | b (gas giant, 0.99 M♃) |
| GJ 682 (Scorpius) | 16.33 | b (super-Earth, 4.40 M⊕); c (Neptune-like, 8.70 M⊕) |
| GJ 3323 (Eridanus) | 17.53 | b (terrestrial, 2.02 M⊕); c (super-Earth, 2.31 M⊕) |
| GJ 251 (Gemini) | 18.20 | b (3.85 M⊕); c (3.88 M⊕), both super-Earths |
| GJ 411 (Ursa Major) | 18.51 | b (super-Earth, 2.69 M⊕) |
While many stellar systems within 12 light-years have no confirmed planet of roughly terrestrial mass, multi-planet systems such as [GJ 887](https://www.edgepedia.org/gj-887), [GJ 1061](https://www.edgepedia.org/gj-1061), YZ Ceti, Teegarden's Star, and [GJ 876](https://www.edgepedia.org/gj-876) are common.[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) • [13](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov//20377)
## The Proxima Centauri system
[Proxima Centauri](https://www.edgepedia.org/proxima-centauri), the closest star to the Sun at just over four light-years, hosts the three nearest known planets. Proxima b, with a mass comparable to Earth's, orbits every 11 days and lies within the habitable zone, the region where liquid water can exist at a planet's surface; the radial velocities that revealed it repeat with a period of 11.2 days. Proxima c is a candidate planet in a longer, five-year orbit.[4](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/) • [7](https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1629d/)
**Proxima d.** In February 2022 a team using the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) on ESO's Very Large Telescope reported evidence for a third planet, Proxima d, orbiting at about four million kilometers, less than a tenth of Mercury's distance from the Sun, with a five-day orbital period between the star and the habitable zone. At about a quarter of Earth's mass it was the lightest exoplanet ever measured by the radial velocity technique at the time of the announcement.[4](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/)
Proxima b's environment is demanding: scientists have found it is probably subject to stellar wind pressures ten thousand times larger than those at Earth, a consequence of orbiting a cool but magnetically active M dwarf at about one-twentieth of Earth's distance from the Sun.[3](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/breezing-through-space-environment-barnards-star-b)
## Barnard's Star
[Barnard's Star](https://www.edgepedia.org/barnards-star) at 5.957 light-years is the nearest single star to the Sun, since Proxima Centauri belongs to the Alpha Centauri triple system, and its planets are therefore the closest known around a single star.[1](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest) • [3](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/breezing-through-space-environment-barnards-star-b) In 2024, ESPRESSO observations reported a sub-Earth-mass planet orbiting the star, and the data provide hints of a candidate system of four sub-Earth-mass planets in circular orbits with velocity semi-amplitudes of 20 to 47 centimeters per second, corresponding to minimum masses of 0.17 to 0.32 Earth masses; the additional candidates required further observations for confirmation.[8](https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2414/eso2414a.pdf) • [9](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2414/)
The planet cataloged as Barnard b orbits at a distance of about 0.023 AU, far closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun, and well inside the snow line despite Barnard's Star being a cool M dwarf, a location where stellar irradiation is too strong for volatile elements to condense.[3](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/breezing-through-space-environment-barnards-star-b) • [8](https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2414/eso2414a.pdf)
## How these planets are found and why the list looks this way
Two methods account for most nearby detections. [Radial velocity](https://www.edgepedia.org/radial-velocity) (Doppler) spectroscopy measures the back-and-forth shift of a star's light as an orbiting planet's gravity makes the star wobble; the bigger the planet, the larger the wobble. [Transit photometry](https://www.edgepedia.org/transit-photometry), used by Kepler and other observatories, measures the brief dimming of a star when a planet crosses its face.[5](https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology/learning-resources/alp/discover-worlds-around-other-stars/) • [10](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/may2025-night-sky-notes/)
Both methods carry observational bias toward massive, close-in planets: close planets produce more frequent signals, and larger planets produce stronger ones. This explains the character of the nearby list, where short-period planets of a few Earth masses around faint red dwarfs dominate, while a true [Earth analog](https://www.edgepedia.org/earth-analog) at a one-year orbit around a Sun-like star remains at the edge of detectability. Radial velocity surveys favor massive close-in planets because the Doppler amplitude grows with planet mass and decreases with orbital distance.[5](https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology/learning-resources/alp/discover-worlds-around-other-stars/) • [11](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190028290/downloads/20190028290.pdf)
The nearby sample is scientifically valuable precisely because these stars are bright and close, so signals are strong and follow-up characterization is feasible. ESPRESSO-class spectrographs were built with the detection of an Earth twin around a nearby star as a long-term goal, and precise radial velocities remain the main way to measure the masses of planets found by transit or direct imaging.[8](https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2414/eso2414a.pdf) • [12](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Earth_Finder_Study_Rpt.pdf)
## References
1. [The nearest exoplanets to Earth, SpaceCatalog.org](https://spacecatalog.org/exoplanets/nearest)
2. [Exoplanets, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/)
3. [Breezing through the Space Environment of Barnard's Star b, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/breezing-through-space-environment-barnards-star-b)
4. [New planet detected around star closest to the Sun (eso2202), ESO](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/)
5. [How do we discover worlds around other stars?, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology/learning-resources/alp/discover-worlds-around-other-stars/)
6. [Scientists found 10,000 possible exoplanets hiding in NASA data, Space.com](https://www.space.com/science/astrophysics/scientists-found-10-000-possible-exoplanets-hiding-in-nasa-data)
7. [The motion of Proxima Centauri in 2016, revealing the fingerprints of a planet, ESO](https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1629d/)
8. [A sub-Earth-mass planet orbiting Barnard's star, Astronomy & Astrophysics (ESPRESSO paper via ESO)](https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2414/eso2414a.pdf)
9. [Scientists discover planet orbiting closest single star to our Sun (eso2414), ESO](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2414/)
10. [May's Night Sky Notes: How Do We Find Exoplanets?, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/may2025-night-sky-notes/)
11. [The observational picture for detection of potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets, NASA NTRS](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190028290/downloads/20190028290.pdf)
12. [Earth Finder Study Report, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Earth_Finder_Study_Rpt.pdf)
13. [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, Alpha Centauri Stellar System](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov//20377)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Astronomy › Cosmology and observation › Astronomical surveys and catalogs*
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