110 research outputs found

    Revealing Short-period Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs in the Galactic Bulge using the Microlensing Xallarap Effect with the \textit{Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope}

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    The \textit{Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope} (\textit{ Roman}) will provide an enormous number of microlensing light curves with much better photometric precisions than ongoing ground-based observations. Such light curves will enable us to observe high-order microlensing effects which have been previously difficult to detect. In this paper, we investigate \textit{Roman}'s potential to detect and characterize short-period planets and brown dwarfs (BDs) in source systems using the orbital motion of source stars, the so-called xallarap effect. We analytically estimate the measurement uncertainties of xallarap parameters using the Fisher matrix analysis. We show that the \textit{Roman} Galactic Exoplanet Survey (RGES) can detect warm Jupiters with masses down to 0.5 MJupM_{\rm Jup} and orbital period of 30 days via the xallarap effect. Assuming a planetary frequency function from \citet{Cumming+2008}, we find \textit{Roman} will detect 10\sim10 hot and warm Jupiters and 30\sim30 close-in BDs around microlensed source stars during the microlensing survey. These detections are likely to be accompanied by the measurements of the companion's masses and orbital elements, which will aid in the study of the physical properties for close-in planet and BD populations in the Galactic bulge.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

    Prediction of Planet Yields by the PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment Microlensing Survey

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    The PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment (PRIME) will be the first to conduct a dedicated near infrared (NIR) microlensing survey by using a 1.8m telescope with a wide field of view of 1.45 deg2{\rm deg^{2}} at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). The major goals of the PRIME microlensing survey are to measure the microlensing event rate in the inner Galactic bulge to help design the observing strategy for the exoplanet microlensing survey by the {\it Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope} and to make a first statistical measurement of exoplanet demographics in the central bulge fields where optical observations are very difficult owing to the high extinction in these fields. Here we conduct a simulation of the PRIME microlensing survey to estimate its planet yields and determine the optimal survey strategy, using a Galactic model optimized for the inner Galactic bulge. In order to maximize the number of planet detections and the range of planet mass, we compare the planet yields among four observation strategies. Assuming {the \citet{2012Natur.481..167C} mass function as modified by \citet{2019ApJS..241....3P}}, we predict that PRIME will detect planetary signals for 425242-52 planets (121-2 planets with Mp1MM_p \leq 1 M_\oplus, 222522-25 planets with mass 1M<Mp100M1 M_\oplus < M_p \leq 100 M_\oplus, 192519-25 planets 100M<Mp10000M100 M_\oplus < M_p \leq 10000 M_\oplus), per year depending on the chosen observation strategy.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, and 3 tables. Accept for publication in The Astronomical Journa

    Microlensing Results Challenge the Core Accretion Runaway Growth Scenario for Gas Giants

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    We compare the planet-to-star mass-ratio distribution measured by gravitational microlensing to core accretion theory predictions from population synthesis models. The core accretion theory's runaway gas accretion process predicts a dearth of intermediate-mass giant planets that is not seen in the microlensing results. In particular, the models predict 10×\sim10\,\times fewer planets at mass ratios of 104q4×10410^{-4} \leq q \leq 4 \times 10^{-4} than inferred from microlensing observations. This tension implies that gas giant formation may involve processes that have hitherto been overlooked by existing core accretion models or that the planet-forming environment varies considerably as a function of host-star mass. Variation from the usual assumptions for the protoplanetary disk viscosity and thickness could reduce this discrepancy, but such changes might conflict with microlensing results at larger or smaller mass ratios, or with other observations. The resolution of this discrepancy may have important implications for planetary habitability because it has been suggested that the runaway gas accretion process may have triggered the delivery of water to our inner solar system. So, an understanding of giant planet formation may help us to determine the occurrence rate of habitable planets.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ

    Confirmation of Color Dependent Centroid Shift Measured After 1.8 years with HST

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    We measured precise masses of the host and planet in OGLE-2003-BLG-235 system, when the lens and source were resolving, with 2018 Keck high resolution images. This measurement is in agreement with the observation taken in 2005 with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In 2005 data, the lens and sources were not resolved and the measurement was made using color-dependent centroid shift only. Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will measure masses using data typically taken within 3-4 years of the peak of the event which is much shorter baseline compared to most of the mass measurements to date. Hence, color dependent centroid shift will be one of the primary method of mass measurements for Roman. Yet, mass measurements of only two events (OGLE-2003-BLG-235 and OGLE-2005-BLG-071) are done using the color dependent centroid shift method so far. The accuracy of the measurements using this method are neither completely known nor well studied. The agreement of Keck and HST results, shown in this paper, is very important since this agreement confirms the accuracy of the mass measurements determined at a small lens-source separation using the color dependent centroid shift method. This also shows that with >100 high resolution images, Roman telescope will be able to use color dependent centroid shift at 3-4 years time baseline and produce mass measurements. We find that OGLE-2003-BLG-235 is a planetary system consists of a 2.34 +- 0.43M_Jup planet orbiting a 0.56 +- 0.06M_Sun K-dwarf host star at a distance of 5.26 +- 0.71 kpc from the Sun.Comment: Submitted to AJ, under review. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2009.0232

    Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey for An Optical Counterpart of GW170817

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    We perform a zz-band survey for an optical counterpart of a binary neutron star coalescence GW170817 with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam. Our untargeted transient search covers 23.623.6 deg2^2 corresponding to the 56.6%56.6\% credible region of GW170817 and reaches the 50%50\% completeness magnitude of 20.620.6 mag on average. As a result, we find 60 candidates of extragalactic transients, including J-GEM17btc (a.k.a. SSS17a/DLT17ck). While J-GEM17btc is associated with NGC 4993 that is firmly located inside the 3D skymap of GW170817, the other 59 candidates do not have distance information in the GLADE v2 catalog or NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). Among 59 candidates, 58 are located at the center of extended objects in the Pan-STARRS1 catalog, while one candidate has an offset. We present location, zz-band apparent magnitude, and time variability of the candidates and evaluate the probabilities that they are located inside of the 3D skymap of GW170817. The probability for J-GEM17btc is 64%64\% being much higher than those for the other 59 candidates (9.3×1032.1×101%9.3\times10^{-3}-2.1\times10^{-1}\%). Furthermore, the possibility, that at least one of the other 59 candidates is located within the 3D skymap, is only 3.2%3.2\%. Therefore, we conclude that J-GEM17btc is the most-likely and distinguished candidate as the optical counterpart of GW170817.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

    Keck Observations Confirm a Super-Jupiter Planet Orbiting M Dwarf OGLE-2005-BLG-071L

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    We present adaptive optics imaging from the NIRC2 instrument on the Keck II telescope that resolves the exoplanet host (and lens) star as it separates from the brighter source star. These observations yield the K-band brightness of the lens and planetary host star, as well as the lens-source relative proper motion, µ_(rel,H), in the heliocentric reference frame. The µ_(rel,H) measurement allows for the determination of the microlensing parallax vector, π_E, which had only a single component determined by the microlensing light curve. The combined measurements of µ_(rel,H) and K L provide the masses of the host star, M_(host) = 0.426 ± 0.037 M⊙, and planet, m_p = 3.27 ± 0.32M_(Jupiter) with a projected separation of 3.4 ± 0.5 au. This confirms the tentative conclusion of a previous paper that this super-Jupiter mass planet, OGLE-2005-BLG-071Lb, orbits an M dwarf. Such planets are predicted to be rare by the core accretion theory and have been difficult to find with other methods, but there are two such planets with firm mass measurements from microlensing, and an additional 11 planetary microlens events with host mass estimates <0. 0.5M⊙ and planet mass estimates >2 Jupiter masses that could be confirmed by high angular follow-up observations. We also point out that OGLE-2005-BLG-071L has separated far enough from its host star that it should be possible to measure the host-star metallicity with spectra from a high angular resolution telescope such as Keck, the Very Large Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, or the James Webb Space Telescope

    Adaptive Optics Imaging Breaks the Central Caustic Cusp Approach Degeneracy in High Magnification Microlensing Events

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    We report new results for the gravitational microlensing target OGLE-2011-BLG-0950 from adaptive optics (AO) images using the Keck observatory. The original analysis by Choi et al. 2012 reports degenerate solutions between planetary and stellar binary lens systems. This is due to a degeneracy in high magnification events where the shape of the light curve peak can be explained by a source approach to two different cusp geometries with different source radius crossing times. This particular case is the most important type of degeneracy for exoplanet demographics, because the distinction between a planetary mass or stellar binary companion has direct consequences for microlensing exoplanet statistics. The 8 and 10-year baselines between the event and the Keck observations allow us to directly measure a relative proper motion of 4.20±0.214.20\pm 0.21\,mas/yr, which confirms the detection of the lens star system and directly rules out the planetary companion models that predict a 4×{\sim}4 \times smaller relative proper motion. The combination of the lens brightness and close stellar binary light curve parameters yield primary and secondary star masses of MA=1.120.04+0.06MM_{A} = 1.12^{+0.06}_{-0.04}M_\odot and MB=0.470.03+0.04MM_{B} = 0.47^{+0.04}_{-0.03}M_\odot at a distance of DL=6.700.30+0.55D_L = 6.70^{+0.55}_{-0.30}\,kpc, and a primary-secondary projected separation of 0.390.04+0.050.39^{+0.05}_{-0.04}\,AU. Since this degeneracy is likely to be common, the high resolution imaging method described here will be used to disentangle the central caustic cusp approach degeneracy for events observed by the \textit{Roman} exoplanet microlensing survey using the \textit{Roman} images taken near the beginning or end of the survey.Comment: Revised version, 19 pages, 8 figures. AJ, 164, 21
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