How to Characterize Habitable Worlds and Signs of Life
by Lisa Kaltenegger · arXiv / Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 55, 433 (2017)
Annual Review article on assessing exoplanet habitability, using Earth through geological time as the reference. Covers habitable zone limits, atmospheric and surface biosignatures, false positives, and what next-generation telescopes will be able to measure.
More resources on Exoplanets
The Exoplanet Handbook (2nd Edition)
952-page reference covering every exoplanet detection method — radial velocity, astrometry, timing, microlensing, transits, imaging — plus host stars, brown dwarfs, formation and migration, interiors, and atmospheres, with over 4,000 literature citations and discovery appendices.
Exoplanet Atmospheres: Physical Processes
Graduate textbook on the physics of planetary atmospheres applied to exoplanets: radiative transfer, molecular and condensate opacities, chemistry, polarization, and the transit, eclipse and phase-curve observations used to measure composition. Worked examples and exercises throughout.
Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Key Insights, Challenges and Prospects
Annual Review article surveying exoplanet atmospheric observations, retrieval methods, and inferred chemical compositions across hot Jupiters to super-Earths, linking abundances to formation and migration history and assessing prospects for JWST spectroscopy and biosignature detection.
Transits and Occultations
Winn's 25-page review chapter from the Arizona Exoplanets volume, deriving the geometry and photometry of transits and secondary eclipses, the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, timing variations, and how eclipse depth versus wavelength constrains atmospheric composition.
NASA Exoplanet Archive
Caltech-operated NASA database of all confirmed exoplanets and candidates, with published parameters, light curves, and spectra. Includes interactive tables, transit ephemeris and periodogram services, EXOFAST fitting, and APIs for programmatic queries.
An Introduction to Exoplanets (OpenLearn)
Free eight-week Open University course, roughly 24 study hours, covering the exoplanet population, radial velocity and transit detection, planetary characteristics, habitability, and the search for life. Includes a statement of participation on completion.