The possibility of detecting planets in the Andromeda Galaxy

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

total 8 pages, including 8 figures, ApJ, submitted

Scientific paper

10.1086/506930

The Angstrom Project is using a global network of 2m-class telescopes to conduct a high cadence pixel microlensing survey of the bulge of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), with the primary aim of constraining its underlying bulge mass distribution and stellar mass function. Here we investigate the feasibility of using such a survey to detect planets in M31. We estimate the efficiency of detecting signals for events induced by planetary systems as a function of planet/star mass ratio and separation, source type and background M31 surface brightness. We find that for planets of a Jupiter-mass or above that are within the lensing zone (~1 -3 AU) detection is possible above 3 $\sigma$, with detection efficiencies ~3% for events associated with giant stars, which are the typical source stars of pixel-lensing surveys. A dramatic improvement in the efficiency of ~40 -- 60% is expected if follow-up observations on an 8m telescope are made possible by a real-time alert system.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The possibility of detecting planets in the Andromeda Galaxy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The possibility of detecting planets in the Andromeda Galaxy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The possibility of detecting planets in the Andromeda Galaxy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-487245

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.