Detection of Extrasolar Planets by Gravitational Microlensing

TL;DR

Gravitational microlensing is a powerful method for detecting low-mass exoplanets at various separations, revealing that super-Earths are common and enabling comprehensive surveys of planetary systems.

Contribution

This paper reviews the physics of microlensing and demonstrates its capability to detect Earth-mass planets and conduct extensive surveys with space-based observations.

Findings

Super-Earths are common at 1.5-4 AU.

Microlensing can detect Earth-mass planets at 2-3 AU from ground.

Space-based microlensing surveys can find planets down to 0.1 Earth-masses.

Abstract

Gravitational microlensing provides a unique window on the properties and prevalence of extrasolar planetary systems because of its ability to find low-mass planets at separations of a few AU. The early evidence from microlensing indicates that the most common type of exoplanet yet detected are the so-called "super-Earth" planets of ~10 Earth-masses at a separation of a few AU from their host stars. The detection of two such planets indicates that roughly one third of stars have such planets in the separation range 1.5-4 AU, which is about an order of magnitude larger than the prevalence of gas-giant planets at these separations. We review the basic physics of the microlensing method, and show why this method allows the detection of Earth-mass planets at separations of 2-3 AU with ground-based observations. We explore the conditions that allow the detection of the planetary host stars and allow measurement of planetary orbital parameters. Finally, we show that a low-cost, space-based microlensing survey can provide a comprehensive statistical census of extrasolar planetary systems with sensitivity down to 0.1 Earth-masses at separations ranging from 0.5 AU to infinity.