Exploring the Final Frontier: A Living Bibliography on Exoplanets, Habitability, and Life in the Cosmos

As I continue to write blog posts delving into the fascinating realms of exoplanets, cosmic habitability, astrobiology, and the broader search for life in the universe, I’ve decided to centralize my references in one evolving post. This will serve as a kind of living bibliography—a curated collection of articles, studies, papers, books, and other resources that inform and inspire my writing.

Rather than repeat sources across multiple posts, I’ll keep them organized here for easy access and ongoing updates. Whether you’re a fellow enthusiast or just curious about what’s out there beyond our pale blue dot, this page will help you trace the intellectual breadcrumbs. I’ll continue adding new materials as I explore further, so feel free to bookmark this and check back periodically.

Last Update: 3 JULY 2025

Resources

• Exoplanets (NASA) https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/
• Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech (NASA) https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/
• Exoplanet Catalog https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/exoplanet-catalog/
• Calculation of Habitable Zones, Virtual Planetary Laboratory, University of Washington, https://vpl.uw.edu/calculation-of-habitable-zones/
• List of nearest terrestrial exoplanet candidates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_terrestrial_exoplanet_candidates
• Astrobiology at NASA https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/about/

Papers and Articles

Exoplanets

The nearest potentially habitable planet to Earth, University of New South Wales, Australia, December 16, 2015 https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/240/the-nearest-potentially-habitable-planet-to-earth/

Ribas, Ignasi, Emeline Bolmont, Franck Selsis, Ansgar Reiners, Jérémy Leconte, Sean N. Raymond, et al. “The Habitability of Proxima Centauri b: I. Irradiation, Rotation and Volatile Inventory from Formation to the Present.” Astronomy & Astrophysics 596 (2016): A111. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230001214. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230001214/downloads/aa29576-16.pdf

Largest Batch of Earth-size Habitable Zone Planets Found Orbiting TRAPPIST-1, NASA https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/trappist1/

NASA telescope reveals largest batch of Earth-size, habitable-zone planets around single star, NASA, February 21, 2017 https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1419/nasa-telescope-reveals-largest-batch-of-earth-size-habitable-zone-planets-around-single-star/

Fundamentals of Orbital Mechanics, NASA, https://spsweb.fltops.jpl.nasa.gov/portaldataops/mpg/MPG_Docs/MPG%20Book/Release/Chapter7-OrbitalMechanics.pdf

GJ 667 C c, NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/gj-667-c-c/

Gliese 12 b: An Intriguing World Sized Between Earth and Venus, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, May 23, 2024, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14581

Life on Gliese 667Cc? Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo,  Last modified Aug. 6, 2020, https://www.mn.uio.no/astro/english/research/news-and-events/news/archive/2012/astronews-2012-02-17.html

Massive ‘super-Earth’ discovered in the habitable zone of its star, possibly supporting life, By Eric Ralls, 6-7-2025, Earth.com https://www.earth.com/news/massive-new-super-earth-kepler-725c-found-in-habitable-zone-around-its-star/

Sun, L., Gu, S., Wang, X. et al. A temperate 10-Earth-mass exoplanet around the Sun-like star Kepler-725. Nat Astron (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02565-z

Astronomers find a hidden planet partly in the habitable zone of its star, by Universe Today -June 7, 2025, Knowridge https://knowridge.com/2025/06/astronomers-find-a-hidden-planet-partly-in-the-habitable-zone-of-its-star/

Kepler-725 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-725

NASA’s TESS spacecraft discovers its first habitable planet, first world with two stars, University of Chicago, Jan 9, 2020 https://news.uchicago.edu/story/nasas-tess-spacecraft-discovers-its-first-habitable-planet-first-world-two-stars

Strange binary star system has three Earth-sized exoplanets, by Alex Wilkins 19 September 2024, New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2448159-strange-binary-star-system-has-three-earth-sized-exoplanets/

HD 133131 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_133131

Habitability of binary star systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitability_of_binary_star_systems

Tamer in twos: Binary Stars May Be Havens for Habitability, NASA by Pat Brennan, Sep 22, 2013 https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/tamer-in-twos-binary-stars-may-be-harbors-for-habitability/

Eggl, S. (2018). Habitability of Planets in Binary Star Systems. In: Deeg, H., Belmonte, J. (eds) Handbook of Exoplanets . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55333-7_61

‘Super Earth’ Kepler-442b Could be More Habitable than Our Own Planet, Scientists Discover https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/super-earth-kepler-442b-could-be-more-habitable-than-our-own-planet-scientists-discover/ss-AA1o3VYR

Kepler-442 b https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/kepler-442-b/

Kepler-442b https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-442b

Kepler-442 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-442

Scientists Detected Potential Signs of Life on a Distant Planet. This Is Not a Drill. by Jackie Appel, 4-17-2025, Popular Mechanics  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-detected-potential-signs-of-life-on-a-distant-planet-this-is-not-a-drill/ar-AA1D80eO

Scientists question possible signs of life on exoplanet K2-18b in new study: ‘We never saw more than insignificant hints’, by Victoria Corless, May 25, 2025 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/search-for-life/scientists-question-possible-signs-of-life-on-exoplanet-k2-18b-in-new-study-we-never-saw-more-than-insignificant-hints

Possible signs of alien life found on nearby exoplanet, study reports, by Mike Wall, April 17, 2025 https://www.space.com/the-universe/exoplanets/possible-signs-of-alien-life-found-on-nearby-exoplanet-study-reports

Shishir Dholakia, Larissa Palethorpe, Alexander Venner, Annelies Mortier, Thomas G Wilson, Chelsea X Huang, Ken Rice, Vincent Van Eylen, Emma Nabbie, Ryan Cloutier, Walter Boschin, David Ciardi, Laetitia Delrez, Georgina Dransfield, Elsa Ducrot, Zahra Essack, Mark E Everett, Michaël Gillon, Matthew J Hooton, Michelle Kunimoto, David W Latham, Mercedes López-Morales, Bin Li, Fan Li, Scott McDermott, Simon J Murphy, Catriona A Murray, Sara Seager, Mathilde Timmermans, Amaury Triaud, Daisy A Turner, Joseph D Twicken, Andrew Vanderburg, Su Wang, Robert A Wittenmyer, Duncan Wright, Gliese 12 b, a temperate Earth-sized planet at 12 parsecs discovered with TESS and CHEOPS, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 531, Issue 1, June 2024, Pages 1276–1293, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1152

Gliese 12b, NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/gliese-12-b/

Astronomers discover Gliese 12 b, a potentially habitable exoplanet https://www.astronomy.com/science/astronomers-discover-gliese-12-b-a-potentially-habitable-exoplanet/

Gliese 12 b, an intriguing Earth- or Venus-sized world https://earthsky.org/space/gliese-12-b-an-intriguing-earth-or-venus-sized-world/

GJ 1214 b https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GJ_1214_b

Habitable planet has Earth-like temperatures and is just 40 light-years away by Eric Ralls https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/habitable-planet-has-earth-like-temperatures-and-is-just-40-light-years-away/ar-BB1n0Zjc

TOI-700 d https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOI-700_d

A hidden ‘super-Earth’ exoplanet is dipping in and out of its habitable zone, by Keith Cooper, June 6, 2025 https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/a-hidden-super-earth-exoplanet-is-dipping-in-and-out-of-its-habitable-zone

The Search for Exoplanets: What Astronomers Know, By: The Great Courses, Joshua N. Winn

Frameworks for Cosmic Habitability and Life in the Universe

“Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: Dependence on Planetary Mass” by Kopparapu et al. (2014), Astrophysical Journal Letters, 787, L29

“Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: New Estimates” by Kopparapu et al. (2013), Astrophysical Journal, 765, 13

The Privileged Planet (20th Anniversary Edition): How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery, August 27, 2024, by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards Ph.D.

The Privileged Planet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Privileged_Planet

Rare Earth Hypothesis, Teach Astronomy, https://www.teachastronomy.com/textbook/Life-in-the-Universe/Rare-Earth-Hypothesis/

Anthropic principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle

The Goldilocks Enigma: Why Is the Universe Just Right for Life? by Paul Davies April 29, 2008

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Astrobiology

Claudi, Riccardo, and Eleonora Alei. 2019. “Biosignatures Search in Habitable Planets” Galaxies 7, no. 4: 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies7040082

Scientists Solved a 1.75-Billion-Year Mystery About How Life Materialized on Earth https://www.msn.com/en-US/news/scienceandtechnology/scientists-solved-a-billionyear-mystery-about-how-life-materialized-on-earth/ar-AA1mL1Yp?ocid=sapphireappshare

Scientists Recreate Possible Process Behind Life on Earth, by Pandora Dewan https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-recreate-possible-process-behind-life-on-earth/ar-BB1j7kTe

A reassessment of the “hard-steps” model for the evolution of intelligent life, by Daniel B. Mills, Jennifer L. Macalady, Adam Frank, and Jason T. Wright, Science Advances, Volume 11, Issue 7, February 2025 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ads5698 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads5698

David S Duque-Castaño, Jorge I Zuluaga, Lauren Flor-Torres, Machine-assisted classification of potential biosignatures in Earth-like exoplanets using low signal-to-noise ratio transmission spectra, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 539, Issue 2, May 2025, Pages 1528–1552, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf563