Identification and characterization of the host stars in planetary microlensing with ELTs. (arXiv:1903.04559v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lee_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Chien-Hsiu Lee</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Street_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Rachel Street</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sahu_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kailash Sahu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Peretz_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eliad Peretz</a>
Microlensing offers a unique opportunity to probe exoplanets that are
temperate and beyond the snow line, as small as Jovian satellites, at
extragalactic distance, and even free floating exoplanets, regimes where the
sensitivity of other methods drops dramatically. This is because microlensing
does not depend on the brightness of the planetary host star. The microlensing
method thus provides great leverage in studying the exoplanets beyond the snow
line, posing tests to the core accretion mechanism, especially on the run-away
phase of gas accretion to form giant planets. Here we propose to robustly and
routinely measure the masses of exoplanets beyond 1 AU from their host stars
with the microlensing method; our experiment relies on directly imaging and
resolving the host star (namely the lens) from the background source of the
microlensing events, which requires the high spatial resolution delivered by
the ELTs. A direct result from this project will be planet occurrence rate
beyond the snow line, which will enable us to discern different planet
formation mechanisms.
Microlensing offers a unique opportunity to probe exoplanets that are
temperate and beyond the snow line, as small as Jovian satellites, at
extragalactic distance, and even free floating exoplanets, regimes where the
sensitivity of other methods drops dramatically. This is because microlensing
does not depend on the brightness of the planetary host star. The microlensing
method thus provides great leverage in studying the exoplanets beyond the snow
line, posing tests to the core accretion mechanism, especially on the run-away
phase of gas accretion to form giant planets. Here we propose to robustly and
routinely measure the masses of exoplanets beyond 1 AU from their host stars
with the microlensing method; our experiment relies on directly imaging and
resolving the host star (namely the lens) from the background source of the
microlensing events, which requires the high spatial resolution delivered by
the ELTs. A direct result from this project will be planet occurrence rate
beyond the snow line, which will enable us to discern different planet
formation mechanisms.
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