The Exoplanet Visualizer is an interactive astronomy tool designed to bridge the gap between complex astrophysical concepts and accessible learning. Our mission is to make the fascinating world of exoplanets accessible to students, educators, and astronomy enthusiasts while maintaining accuracy.
At its core, this tool serves as a virtual sandbox for exploring planetary systems beyond our solar system. Users can manipulate stellar parameters in real-time and observe how these changes affect the boundaries of habitable zones—regions where liquid water could potentially exist on planetary surfaces.
Interactive Learning
Real-time parameter adjustment with immediate visual feedback, allowing users to experiment with different stellar configurations. Explore the Kepler mission discoveries and other exoplanet systems.
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Features a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram visualization that places the target star in context, revealing its spectral type, evolutionary stage, and relationship to other stars based on temperature and luminosity.
NASA Exoplanet Archive Data
Stellar and planetary parameters retrieved from the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
Elliptical Orbit
Orbital mechanics implemented using Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the Newton-Raphson method. Study systems like TRAPPIST-1 discovered by ground-based telescopes.
The Habitable Zone Concept
The habitable zone, often called the "Goldilocks zone," is the range of distances from a star where a planet with suitable conditions — typically Earth-like atmospheric pressure and composition — could sustain liquid water on its surface. It is used as a preliminary filter when identifying planets that might support life.
The position of the habitable zone is influenced by far more than just orbital distance. The star's spectral type and luminosity, the planet's mass and atmospheric makeup, and the eccentricity of its orbit can all shift the zone's boundaries. While being within the habitable zone does not guarantee true habitability, it remains one of the most effective tools for prioritizing targets in the search for potentially life-supporting worlds.
Advanced
The habitable zone (HZ) is defined as the circumstellar region where planetary surface conditions permit the long-term stability of liquid water, contingent on specific atmospheric and geophysical parameters. Following Kopparapu et al. (2014), this implementation adopts the runaway greenhouse limit as the inner boundary and the maximum greenhouse limit as the outer boundary, with mass-dependent calibrations for terrestrial analogues of 0.1, 1, and 5 M⊕.
The runaway greenhouse threshold occurs when net incoming stellar flux drives irreversible surface warming, saturating the water vapor greenhouse effect and enabling significant water vapor transport to the upper atmosphere. Subsequent photodissociation by extreme ultraviolet (XUV) photons, coupled with hydrodynamic escape of hydrogen, leads to irreversible desiccation. Conversely, the maximum greenhouse limit delineates the outer edge where additional CO₂ no longer augments surface temperatures due to Rayleigh scattering dominance, preventing further greenhouse warming.
HZ boundaries are not static; they are influenced by stellar effective temperature, bolometric luminosity, spectral energy distribution, planetary albedo, atmospheric composition, and orbital eccentricity (via variable insolation regimes). While the HZ is a necessary criterion for classical habitability, it is not a sufficient predictor of biosignature potential.
Habitable Zone Boundaries
Inner Boundary (Runaway Greenhouse)
The inner edge is the point where a planet receives enough stellar radiation to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. Water quickly evaporates into the atmosphere, trapping more heat and pushing temperatures high enough that the planet eventually loses all its water.
Outer Boundary (Maximum Greenhouse)
The outer edge is the point where even a dense CO₂ atmosphere can no longer maintain surface temperatures above the freezing point of water, leading to global glaciation.
Kopparapu et al. (2014) Model
Our tool implements the sophisticated habitable zone model developed by Kopparapu and colleagues, which provides the most current understanding of planetary habitability. This model uses polynomial fits to calculate effective stellar flux values based on stellar temperature. The original research can be found in the Kopparapu et al. (2014) paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Polynomial fit for effective stellar flux (S_eff) from Kopparapu 2014:
where S_eff⊙, a, b, c, and d are polynomial coefficients and
Conversion from effective stellar flux to orbital distance (in AU):
d = orbital distance in AU, L = stellar luminosity, L⊙ = solar luminosity, S_eff = effective stellar flux
Polynomial Coefficients for Different Planetary Masses
Planetary Mass | S_eff,⊙ | a (×10⁻⁴) | b (×10⁻⁸) | c (×10⁻¹²) | d (×10⁻¹⁶) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.1 M⊕ (Mars-like) | 0.99 | 1.209 | 1.404 | -7.418 | -1.713 |
1 M⊕ (Earth-like) | 1.107 | 1.332 | 1.58 | -8.308 | -1.931 |
5 M⊕ (Superearth-like) | 1.188 | 1.433 | 1.707 | -8.968 | -2.084 |
Maximum Greenhouse (Outer) | 0.356 | 0.617 | 1.698 | -3.198 | -5.575 |
Coefficients are valid for stars with effective temperatures between 2,600-7,200 K. The model accounts for 3 different planetary masses.
Orbital Mechanics and Eccentricity
Our tool simulates realistic orbital motion by implementing Kepler's laws of planetary motion and accounting for orbital eccentricity. Eccentricity describes how elliptical an orbit is—ranging from 0 (perfect circle) to nearly 1 (highly elongated ellipse).
We use the Newton-Raphson method to solve Kepler's equation, which is essential for calculating planetary positions in elliptical orbits. This approach provides accurate orbital simulations that reflect the true complexity of planetary motion.
Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
First Law: Elliptical Orbits
Planets move in elliptical orbits with the star at one focus.
Elliptical orbit equation:
a = semi-major axis, b = semi-minor axis, x, y = coordinates on the ellipse
e = orbital eccentricity
Second Law: Equal Areas
A line connecting a planet to the star sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals.
Angular momentum conservation:
Third Law: Period-Distance Relationship
The square of a planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of its semi-major axis.
Period-distance relationship:
where P = orbital period, a = semi-major axis, G = gravitational constant, M₁ = stellar mass, M₂ = planetary mass
Kepler's Equation and Numerical Solution
We solve Kepler's equation using the Newton-Raphson iterative method for accurate orbital calculations.
Kepler's equation:
where M = Mean anomaly, E = Eccentric anomaly, e = orbital eccentricity
Newton-Raphson iteration:
where En = current eccentric anomaly estimate, En+1 = next iteration estimate
Technology Stack
Frontend Framework
- • Next.js 15.1.6 (React 19)
- • TypeScript for type safety
- • Tailwind CSS for styling
- • Framer Motion for animations
Data Visualization
- • D3.js for orbital diagrams
- • Custom orbital mechanics engine
- • Real-time parameter updates
- • Interactive zoom and pan
UI Components
- • Shadcn/ui component library
- • Radix UI primitives
- • Lucide React icons
- • Custom tracing beam component
Form & Validation
- • React Hook Form
- • Zod schema validation
- • Form persistence hooks
- • Real-time validation
Database Structure
Our database contains comprehensive information about stellar systems and their planetary companions, structured to support both educational exploration and scientific analysis.
Stellar Parameters
Field | Description | Units | Example |
---|---|---|---|
hostname | Star system identifier | - | TRAPPIST-1 |
st_mass | Stellar mass | M☉ | 0.0898 |
st_lum | Stellar luminosity (log10) | log(L/L☉) | -3.25727 |
st_teff | Effective temperature | K | 2566.0 |
st_rad | Stellar radius | R☉ | 0.1192 |
st_met | Metallicity | [Fe/H] | 0.04 |
st_age | Stellar age | Gyr | 0.5 |
Planetary Parameters
Field | Description | Units | Example |
---|---|---|---|
pl_name | Planet identifier | - | TRAPPIST-1 b |
pl_bmasse | Planet mass | M⊕ | 1.374 |
pl_orbsmax | Semi-major axis | AU | 0.01154 |
pl_orbper | Orbital period | days | 1.510826 |
pl_orbeccen | Orbital eccentricity | - | 0.0001 |
pl_orbincl | Orbital inclination | degrees | 88.0 |
pl_eqt | Equilibrium temperature | K | 450.0 |
pl_insol | Insolation flux | S⊕ | 5.2 |
Data Sources
Our primary data source is the NASA Exoplanet Archive, the official database of confirmed exoplanets and stellar parameters. We access this data through the TAP (Table Access Protocol) service, specifically querying the pscompars table.
NASA Exoplanet Archive Integration
Data Source
Access Method
TAP (Table Access Protocol) query service
Primary Table
pscompars - Planetary Systems Composite Parameters
Data Currency
Regularly updated with latest exoplanet discoveries and refined parameters
Data Processing Pipeline
1. Data Extraction: TAP queries to NASA Exoplanet Archive
2. Data Validation: Quality checks and parameter validation
3. Data Transformation: Conversion to internal data structures
4. Data Storage: Local JSON database for performance
5. Data Access: Optimized search and retrieval systems