ROME/REA: A gravitational microlensing search for exo-planets beyond the snow-line on a global network of robotic telescopes

TL;DR

ROME/REA employs a global robotic telescope network and innovative survey techniques to detect exoplanets beyond the snow-line, addressing a key gap in planet formation understanding.

Contribution

It introduces a novel gravitational microlensing method combining multi-band surveys and reactive follow-up using a global robotic telescope network.

Findings

Initial detections of exoplanets beyond the snow-line

Demonstration of the effectiveness of the multi-band survey approach

Validation of the robotic telescope network for exoplanet discovery

Abstract

Planet population synthesis models predict an abundance of planets with semi-major axes between 1-10 au, yet they lie at the edge of the detection limits of most planet finding techniques. Discovering these planets and studying their distribution is critical to understanding the physical processes that drive planet formation. ROME/REA is a gravitational microlensing project whose main science driver is to discover exoplanets in the cold outer regions of planetary systems. To achieve this, it uses a novel approach combining a multi-band survey with reactive follow-up observations, exploiting the unique capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global network of robotic telescopes combined with a Target and Observation Manager (TOM) system. We present the main science objectives and a technical overview of the project, including initial results.