WFIRST - UKIRT Microlensing Survey as a Pathfinder
Abstract
Gravitational microlensing as a method of exoplanet detection is best suited to detecting planets of all masses located just beyond the snow line. This region of parameter space is largely unexplored, and it is necessary to detect many more planets via large microlensing surveys in order to understand these understudied planets. Our project utilizes the ground-based United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) as the first near infrared (NIR) microlensing survey to explore this parameter space. Preliminary results from Shvartzvald et al. 2017 presented five highly extinguished UKIRT microlensing events near the Galactic bulge (i.e. where |b| < 2) and provided initial constraints to the NIR event rate. As a follow up to this study, we inject a multitude of mock stars with simulated microlensing signals into real UKIRT observations taken between 2015 and 2017. We then utilize a modified UKIRT pipeline to extract the light curves of these mock stars, from which we aim to derive the UKIRT detection efficiency and eventually the NIR event rate per square degree to a precision of ~10%. Information on event rates in the NIR is crucial for informing mission design specifications, and prepares for the upcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #231
- Pub Date:
- January 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AAS...23115805J