by Jennifer Yee
The fundamental scale in microlensing is the Einstein ring whose size is proportional to the square root of the mass of the lens. Given that planets are 10-3 to 10-5 times less massive than their host stars, a microlensing event is dominated by the signal from the lens star. Because a planet is so much smaller than its host star, its microlensing signal will be a much smaller perturbation superposed on the light curve of the host star.
Lightcurve of MOA-1998-BLG-033Gaudi et al. 2002. |
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Is there a planet?
Lightcurve of OGLE-1998-BLG-014Gaudi et al.2002. |
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Is there a planet?
Lightcurve of OGLE-1999-BLG-036Bond et al.2004 |
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Is there a planet?
Lightcurve of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Beaulieu et al.2006 |
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Is there a planet?