Search for Planet or Stellar System
Accepted Identifiers and Catalogs
The Exoplanet Archive maintains its own list of cross-identifications for every star in the Exoplanet Archive database. To search on a single star, enter the star name in the search box. If the star name is recognized by the Exoplanet Archive, you will be taken directly to the Exoplanet Archive Overview page for that star. Entering a planet name will direct you to the overview page for that planet.
If you enter the name of a star of a multiple system, the component letters are case-sensitive. For example, the system 30 Ari B is not treated the same as 30 Ari b.
When entering a planet name, you must include a space between the star name and the planet letter. Planet letters are also case-sensitive.
The following table lists the recommended identifiers to use when looking up information on a single object in the Exoplanet Archive.
| Catalog | How to pose your query to the Exoplanet Archive | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| The Henry Draper Catalog | HD NNNNNN [A] | HD 142 hD 178911B |
| The Hipparcos Catalog | HIP NNNNNN [A], or HIC NNNNNN [A] |
HIP 5158 hic 79431 |
| The Gliese-Jahreiss Compilation | GJ NNN [A], or GJ NNN.N [A], or GL NNN [A], or GL NNN.N [A] |
GL 667C GJ 3634 |
| The Bayer-Flamsteed | ggg CON [A] | tau Boo |
| Common Name | Use the name itself | Fomalhaut 51 Peg |
| IRAS | IRAS HHMMmsDDMM [A] | IRAS 08358+6430 |
| The Bright Star Catalog | HR NNNN [A] | HR 8799 |
| The Durchmusterung Catalogs (BD,CD,CPD, SD). Please see note below. |
BDsNN NNNN [A], or CD-NN NNNNN [A], or CPD-NN NNNNN [A], or SD-NN NNNNN [A] |
BD+20 5278 CD-51 641 CPD-51 330 |
| The 2MASS Catalog | 2MASS JHHMMSSSSsDDMMSSS [A] | 2MASS J23072869+2108033 |
| The Washington Double Star Catalog | WDS HHMMmsDDMM [A] | WDS J02370+2439A |
| The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Catalog | SAO NNNNNN [A] | SAO 91022 |
| The Tycho Catalog | TYC NNNN-NNNNN-N [A] | TYC 1718-02350-1 |
| Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey | TrES-NN | TrES-03 |
| Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (Transit Events) | OGLE-TR-NNN | OGLE-TR-111 |
| Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (Bulge) | OGLE YYYY-BLG-NNNL | OGLE 2005-BLG-071L |
| Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics | MOA YYYY-BLG-NNNL | MOA 2003-BLG-053L |
| XO Survey | XO-NN | XO-01 |
| Convection, Rotation, and Planetary Transits - Exoplanet | COROT-EXO-NN | COROT-EXO-01 |
| Hungarian Automated Telescope - Planet | HAT-P-NN | HAT-P-3 |
| Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search | SWEEPS-NN | SWEEPS-11 |
| Wide Angle Search for Planets | WASP-NN | WASP-2 |
| Pulsar | PSR BHHMMsDD | PSR B1620-26 |
In the instructions above:
- N = an integer digit (0-9)
- HH = an integer number of hours (00-23)
- MM = an integer number of minutes (00-59)
- m = fraction of a minute (0-9); e.g., MMm = 217 corresponds to 21.7 minutes
- SSSS or SSS = seconds plus fraction of second (0000-5999 or 000-599); e.g., SSSS = 2248 corresponds to 22.48 seconds
- DD = integer number of degrees (00-89)
- YYYY = integer number of years (2000-2099)
- A = a letter of the (English) alphabet (A-Z or a-z)
- ggg = The full Greek letter (e.g., alpha, beta) or the 3 English letter abbreviation of Greek letters (e.g., alf, bet). For the Greek letters mu (μ) and nu (ν), please repeat the last character (muu, nuu) to enforce a three-character abbreviation.
- s = "+" or "-" sign
- CON = Three-letter abbreviation of constellation name (e.g., TAU, AND).
All other letters are entered as is. Note also that:
- Italicized = an instruction
- Anything written in [square brackets] may or may not be part of a query.
- Leading zeros (0s) may be omitted
- The Exoplanet Archive is case-sensitive only on the component and planet letters
Notes
Regarding Durchmusterung catalogs: The Exoplanet Archive uses the same designations as published in the original Durchmusterung catalogs. That is, the identifiers BD, CD, CPD, SD are not interchangeable. In the same spirit, the Exoplanet Archive also does not recognize the generic Durchmusterung (DM) identifier.
Regarding SIMBAD: This search function only checks aliases within the Exoplanet Archive database. No queries are made to SIMBAD.
