Detection of extrasolar planets via microlensing and occultation

Mathematics – Probability

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

As recently as five years ago, no extrasolar planetary companions of main sequence stars had been identified. The discovery 51 Peg b by Mayor & Queloz [49], was the first of many planetary detections. Since then, over fifty other planets have been found, all with the radial velocity technique. Here, we give an overview of various detection strategies for planets. We discuss studies in three separate areas of searching for extrasolar planets; high magnification and astrometric deviations during a microlensing event given a lens with a planetary companion, and the observational progress of a planet transit survey. We study the effects of a planetary companion to the lens during a microlensing event with numerical methods. By studying the photometric light curve of a microlensing event during its peak amplification, we find that a planetary signature can be definitively detected in the lensing zone (0.6-1.6 Einstein Ring Radii or RE) for masses greater than Jupiter's. The probability remains substantial for Saturn and even 10 Earth masses. The peak of the event can be predicted in advance, allowing for extrasolar planet detection with a relatively small use of resources over a short period of time. We introduce a new method of searching for extrasolar planets by monitoring the astrometric deviations of the source star during a microlensing event. We show that astrometric deviation curves can give information about the presence of a planet and allow for parameter extraction. By monitoring the center-of-light motion of microlensing alerts using high precision astrometric instruments, the probability of detecting a planet orbiting the lens is high. The addition of astrometric information to the photometric microlensing light curve greatly helps in determining the planetary mass and projected separation. We introduce a new numerical method for calculating astrometric motion and detecting probabilities. Lastly, we search for planet transits in old, relatively metal rich open clusters. We observe three open clusters and gather time series data over a period of two years. We discuss how we have been able to achieve 0.8% photometry on a subset of our data.

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