Naslov
Towards A Census of Earth-mass Exo-planets with Gravitational Microlensing

Autori
J.P. Beaulieu, E. Kerins, S. Mao, D. Bennett, A. Cassan, S. Dieters, B.S. Gaudi, A. Gould, V. Batista, R. Bender, S. Brillant, K. Cook, C. Coutures, Dijana Dominis-Prester, J. Donatowicz, P. Fouqué, E. Grebel, J. Greenhill, D. Heyrovsky, K. Horne, D. Kubas, J.B. Marquette, J. Menzies, N.J. Rattenbury, I. Ribas, K. Sahu, Y. Tsapras, A. Udalski, C. Vinter

Izvornik
ESA Exo-Planet Roadmap Advisory Team

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, ostalo

Godina
2008

Ključne riječi
Microlensing; extrasolar planets

Sažetak
Thirteen exo-planets have been discovered using the gravitational microlensing technique (out of which 7 have been published). These planets already demonstrate that super-Earths (with mass up to ~10 Earth masses) beyond the snow line are common and multiple planet systems are not rare. In this White Paper we introduce the basic concepts of the gravitational microlensing technique, summarise the current mode of discovery and outline future steps towards a complete census of planets including Earth-mass planets. In the near-term (over the next 5 years) we advocate a strategy of automated follow-up with existing and upgraded telescopes which will significantly increase the current planet detection efficiency. In the medium 5-10 year term, we envision an international network of wide-field 2m class telescopes to discover Earth-mass and free-floating exo-planets. In the long (10-15 year) term, we strongly advocate a space microlensing telescope which, when combined with Kepler, will provide a complete census of planets down to Earth mass at almost all separations. Such a survey could be undertaken as a science programme on Euclid, a dark energy probe with a wide-field imager which has been proposed to ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Fizika

Napomena
White Paper submission to the ESA Exo-Planet Roadmap Advisory Team

POVEZANOST RADA