Direct Mass Measurements for Planets Discovered by Gravitational Microlensing
Abstract
I present a follow-up analysis using Keck-II adaptive optics (AO) for the microlensing planetary event MOA-2009-BLG-319. Due to the ~10 years of baseline since the event peak, the lens has clearly separated from the brighter source and can be directly measured. Calculating the lens-source relative proper motion allows me to accurately determine the microlensing parallax vector, πE, which was highly unconstrained until now. Further analysis leads to precise measurements of the host star mass, planetary mass, planet separation in astronomical units (AU), and distance to the lens system. This direct mass measurement method constitutes the primary technique that WFIRST, a NASA flagship mission, will use to determine masses and distances of planetary systems that it discovers.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23540201T