Selections from 2018: Exploring Planets Beyond Our Galaxy
Abstract
Editors note:In these last two weeks of 2018, well be looking at a few selections that we havent yet discussed on AAS Nova from among the most-downloaded paperspublished in AAS journals this year. The usual posting schedule will resume in January.Probing Extragalactic Planets Using Quasar MicrolensingPublished February 2018Main takeaway:Two scientists from University of Oklahoma, Xinyu Dai and Eduardo Guerras, have discovered a population of free-floating planets beyond our own galaxy. They achieved this by analyzing the microlensingof a background, bright, supermassive black hole in Chandra X-ray Observatory images.Why its interesting:Diagram of the process of quasar microlensing (click to enlarge). In the current study, the lensing objects are not foreground stars, but instead foreground free-floating planets. [Jason Cowan/Astronomy Technology Center/NASA]If Dai and Guerrass models and interpretations are correct, then this marks the first time weve ever discovered planets outside of our own galaxy. If these unbound planets in the lensing galaxy are Moon- to Jupiter-sized, the authors models suggest a population of about 2,000 planets per main-sequence starin the lens galaxy all of which lie 3.8 billion light-years away from us.What this means for future observations:With microlensing, the details of a foreground object (here, the lens galaxy) can be determined as it lenses a background source (here, the supermassive black hole of a bright, distant quasar). By modeling the signal, we can tease out a surprising amount information even about small objects that lie at enormous distances. Dai and Guerrass discovery shows the power of microlensing for making detections that are well out of reach of other approaches, like direct observations or transits.CitationXinyu Dai and Eduardo Guerras 2018 ApJL 853 L27. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aaa5fb
- Publication:
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AAS Nova Highlights
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018nova.pres.4384K
- Keywords:
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- Features;
- Highlights;
- exoplanets;
- microlensing;
- quasars;
- supermassive black holes